Flame Retardant Sheeting In Theatres And Everywhere!
This wonderful lightweight material has now started to become widely used in theatre productions; its primary use was in the construction industry for protecting floors, windows and walls against damage and debris but now has a new lease of life in the theatre.
It has been used by many theatres as cheaper alternative to plywood, as it is around half the cost. It has been used in set design from backdrops and stage scenery to props and blocking out light sources. For blocking out light sources and props the thinner 3mm sheeting seems to be the preferred choice and for backdrops and scenery (especially freestanding scenery) the thicker 4mm seem to be the right one.
When it comes to scenery the sheeting is generally used to cover a wooden framework on castors that makes a lightweight portable triangle that can be used for different scenery, when the scene changes the triangles are spun round to show the next scene, therefore each frame is good for three scenes.
You may think that it is only the smaller theatres that are using this material in their productions but that is not true, it is currently being used in the West End and also the Adelphi Theatre in the fabulous production of Sweeny Todd (one of my favourites). So I am sure that many more theatres if they are not already using it will now start to make use of this marvellous material in their productions.
The benefits of using this material are many, from its low cost and the flame retardant properties to the durable lightweight characteristics that make it easy to move between scenes. The ease of manipulation in to shape and many more, in fact there are too many to mention, but you can see why this material is taking the theatres by storm and why this material will become the set designer's material of choice over the coming years.
I have heard rumours that trade stands at major events are starting to use this material but unfortunately I do not have any examples as yet.
As you can probably tell I am a big fan of flame retardant sheeting and if I find any other obscure uses of this amazing material then you can be sure that I will be the one to tell you about it. But if you find any please let me know and I will include it in one of my posts.
About the Author
Richard Johnson - The construction industry's leading supplier of Temporary Carpet Protection Materials http://www.protection.co.uk/products/proplex-2mm-black-recycled-flame-retardant-sheeting/
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