Safety curtain

Occupational safety and health regulations state that the safety curtain must be able to resist fire for a short time to delay fires starting on stage from spreading to the auditorium and the rest of the theatre, to provide additional exiting time for audience members and members of staff.

Alternatively, heat-sensitive components can be built into the rigging to automatically close the curtain in case of fire.

It can also be flown in and out, as regulations in some jurisdictions state that it must be shown to the audience, to prove its effective operation, for a certain amount of time during every performance.

[5][6] A very early example of a safety curtain installation in the United States was at the New Fifth Avenue Theatre (New York City) which opened in 1873.

[7] Chicago's 1903 Iroquois Theatre fire resulted in over 600 deaths when the theater's safety curtain got stuck midway down, along with other structural deficiencies in the building.