Flat (theatre)

Often affixed to battens flown in from the fly tower or loft for the scenes in which they are used, they may also be stored at the sides of the stage, called wings, and braced to the floor when in use for an entire performance.

The length of the toggles is the total width of the flat minus the combined width of the stiles (3 feet 7 inches or 1.09 metres, for a 4 by 8 feet or 1.2 by 2.4 metres, soft-cover flat constructed of 2+1⁄2 inches or 64 millimetres, stiles).

They are easier to construct than keystones, but not as strong due to their narrower dimension and reduced glue/nailing surface area.

The boards are laid out flat on the shop floor, squared, and joined with the keystones and corner blocks.

The keystones and corner blocks are inset 1 inch (25 mm) from the outside edge, which allows for flats to be hinged or butted together.

Broadway flats can also be constructed using Half-lap and Cross-lap joints instead of keystones and corner blocks, and joins stiles, rails, and toggles, by sawing a 3⁄8 inch (9.5 mm) deep half-lap at the ends of the pieces, and/or a 3⁄8 inch (9.5 mm) deep dado groove mid-piece, which are then glued and stapled together.

Setting up for a dado stack is approximately the same as for preparing keystones and cornerblocks, but requires less layout, as the length of stiles, rails and, toggles are equal to the face of your flat.

The boards are laid out on edge on the shop floor, the ends are glued together and stapled or screwed.