Cloth Batten Clamp

Cloth batten clamp large photo

Front and back cloths are designed to fit the height of the stage and, when not in use, are winched straight up, out of sight, into the fly tower. When The Royal Opera or The Royal Ballet are on tour, the scenic cloths can often be taller than the fly towers in other theatres, meaning that the cloths are not out of sight when flown up. The cloths therefore need to be wound onto a batten to shorten them. Cloth batten clamps were used to secure the cloth once it was around the batten. They were hinged to allow for different widths of rolled cloth, depending on the height of the fly tower.

Image © Royal Ballet and Opera

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