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HOW IT WORKSA Guide to Black Stage Masking: Legs, Borders, and Void Drapes
Half of what makes a stage picture look professional is what you can’t see. Black masking — the legs, borders, and void drapes that hide the wings, the rigging, and the back-of-house — is the quiet infrastructure behind every clean lit scene, in theater, TV, and touring alike. Get the masking right and the audience only sees the show; get it wrong and they see cabling, crew, and daylight.
Here’s how stage masking is built and named, and how to spec a set that makes everything you don’t want seen simply disappear.
Legs, borders, and travelers
The vocabulary is simple once you see it. Legs are tall, narrow black drapes hung at the sides to mask the wings and frame the stage left and right. Borders (or teasers) are wide, short drapes hung across the top to mask overhead rigging and set the height of the opening. A traveler is a drape that opens and closes like a curtain. Together they form the black ‘frame’ around the acting area, usually in matched pairs down the depth of the stage.
Void drapes and full black-out
Behind and around the acting area, void drapes create the infinite-black surround — a rear traveler or a full black-box wrap of deep matte black that reads as endless nothing. This is what isolates a lit performer against pure black and gives lighting and video a clean field. Overlapping panels ensure no light leaks between drapes.
Why matte black fabric matters
Not all black fabric masks equally. Masking works because the cloth absorbs light instead of reflecting it, so velour, commando cloth, and duvetyne are chosen specifically for their deep matte, light-hungry surfaces. A cheap shiny black would catch stray light and reveal itself as a draped wall; a true matte void drape stays invisible. Sewn fullness adds pleated depth that traps even more light.
Speccing a masking package
To order masking, think in a set: how many legs and borders per side, the rear and any mid-stage travelers, and the finished sizes of each. Decide flat vs. pleated fullness for the look, pick your fabric weight for the venue and for touring, and put NFPA 701 FR on all of it. Ordering the package together ensures every piece matches in color and finish — and is where volume pricing kicks in.
| Masking piece | Where it hangs | What it hides |
|---|---|---|
| Legs | Sides of the stage | The wings, offstage crew |
| Borders / teasers | Across the top | Overhead rigging, lights |
| Rear void drape | Upstage back wall | Back-of-house, creates black void |
| Traveler | Opens/closes like a curtain | Reveals or masks on cue |
Send us your masking plot or a rough list of legs, borders, and drapes with finished sizes, and we’ll build a matched black masking package on FR-certified fabric — with a mockup and quote within one business day.