Every theatre performance I go to, the Safety Curtain is lowered during the interval. Have there been any cases where a Safety Curtain has actually been used in its designed role?

Question

Every theatre performance I go to, the Safety Curtain is lowered during the interval. Have there been any cases where a Safety Curtain has actually been used in its designed role?

Question #130999. Asked by davejacobs.
Last updated May 17 2013.
Originally posted May 16 2013 1:14 AM.

jmorrow

Answer has 3 votes

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jmorrow

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Answer has 3 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.

In 1972, children lit fireworks which started a fire inside the empty New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth. The fire burned through the ropes holding up the safety curtain, causing it to fall in place. The fire consumed the part of the building behind the proscenium arch, but the auditorium itself was saved by the safety curtain.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/nostalgia/faulty-safety-curtain-did-its-job-and-saved-theatre-1-4735556

May 16 2013, 4:56 PM

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Answer 1

In that Portsmouth case, it was kids playing in a deserted theatre that cused the fire, and that fact that the Safety Curtain came down seems to have been accidental, due to the
supporting ropes burning through! I can find no case when a Safety Curtain has been deliberately lowered because of fire, during a performance