JAN
23

Curtain Up

How to Build a Strong, Yet Inexpensive, Touring Pipe and Drape Frame 

By Brian D. Taylor, Project Editor, Pioneer Drama Service 

Brian D. Taylor is the project editor for Pioneer Drama Service, a published playwright and a former drama teacher.  Working with K-12, college and community theatre groups, he has a wide theatrical background with experience in directing, acting and technical theatre. 

From the moment I stepped foot in my very first classroom where I would be teaching my first drama class in just a few days, I knew something was missing.  I had dreamed of having student actors playing out many scenes in this room, but the classroom was a very small space and felt nothing like a drama classroom.  It was your typical white tile, while walls, industrial box style classroom.

And then I was shown the school’s stage, if you could even call it that, without a shred of stage lighting, sound equipment or drapery.  Again, something was missing.  Sure, I could have used a lighting system and a fancy sound system.  But what I needed most, just like in my classroom, wasn’t fancy at all, just incredibly useful:  a curtain.

There’s just something about stepping through a curtain that helps young actors feel as though they’re on a stage rather than in the classroom.  They would benefit from a semi-formal acting space in the classroom, and I knew a small curtain system would help lead them to inspired performances onstage.  And you know what?  It did, thanks to a strong pipe and drape curtain system I built.

Even better, the frame system, using black steel pipe, was cheap, incredibly durable and could easily be disassembled and reassembled, which we had to do every time we moved from the classroom to that tiny “stage.”  Its portability also allowed us to use it for touring to other schools.

But that was just the start of its versatility.  Sure, we could have made the frame lighter using PVC piping, but lighter usually also means fragile and would have diminished both its durability and its usefulness.  In my years at that school, we used that frame as a pipe and drape frame, a costume rack, a frame for stage lighting equipment and as a projection screen frame for shadow puppetry lessons and other fun!  Heck, the school even used it from time to time to hang their banners or other signage at official school events, and the gym teacher used it one week out of the year to do pull-up training and competitions with the students.  With the strong steel, there seemed to be no end to its usefulness!

Here’s how I built it.  Luckily, all the supplies can be found in the plumbing section of your local home improvement store.

Supply List

1 – 1” x 10’ Black steel pipe (about $24)
2 – 1” x 72” Black steel pipe (about $42)
4 – 1” x 18” Black steel pipe (about $32)
2 – 1” elbow pipe fittings (about $7)
2 – 1” tee pipe fittings (about $9)

Total cost for all materials = about $115

Step One:
Attach the elbow fittings to each end of the ten foot pipe.  Tighten until the open ends of the elbow fittings face the same direction.  This will be the crossbar of your frame, where the drapes will be hung.  The legs will be attached to the open ends of the elbow fittings.

Step Two:
Attach a tee fitting to one end of a 72” length of pipe.  The tee should be attached using the center threading.

Step Three:
On each end of the tee fitting, attach a 18” length of pipe.  Now, you should have a 6’ high T-shaped leg.  Repeat steps two and three to put together the other leg.

Step Four:
Attach drapes to the crossbar.  (It’s far easier to do this before attaching the crossbar to the legs.)  For the drapes, figure about 1½’ to 2’ of drapery for each running foot to be covered, so you’ll want 15 to 20 feet of drapery for proper pleating on the 10 foot pipe.  Sewing it with a “pipe pocket” is the easiest way to simply sleeve the drape over the horizontal pipe.  Or, you can use shower curtain rings.

Step Five: 
Attach the legs to the crossbar at the open ends of the elbow fittings.