The Painted Theater Curtains Exhibit showcases the historic stage curtains currently hanging at the Townshend, Vermont Town Hall. Mrs. Kate Dutton donated the entire sum of money needed for building the “Townshend Town Hall and Opera House,” as it was titled when it was erected in 1922. Its’s highly probable that Mrs. Dutton commissioned these unique curtains at the same time.
The curtains were used as back-drops for plays that had become popular after the Civil War during the days before radio and TV. These curtains give us a rare glimpse into the struggles and the joys of small-town life.
Scroll down to view large color photos of many of the theater curtains from Townshend Town Hall. Click any thumbnail to view a larger version of the photo. Use the arrows to view next and previous photos. Don’t forget to read the captions for each picture.
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- Opening
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- Vermont Seal “Teaser” Townshend Town Hall by Wm Stuart 1922
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- Teepee -Grand Drape w faux curtains, painted by Lee Lash Studios, 1922
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- Teepee with Indian – detail
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- Locomotive, Boulogne Car
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- Locomotive by Wm Stuart of Brattleboro 1922
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- Streetcar Scene w ear pieces by Stuart
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- Streetcar scene close-up
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- Streetcar, touch-up by professional
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- Autos close-up
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- City Park Scene w Ears by Stuart
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- Ear Pieces Storage –specially designed for our backstage area
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- Meadow Scene by Stuart
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- Mountain Brook Scene by Stuart
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- Mt Brook w 2 Woodland ears and separate rock
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- Mountain Brook close-up
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- Volunteers Restoring Curtains in 2014
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- Greek Town, ukn painter c 1970’s –in storage
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- Living Room Scene of ukn origin–in storage
About The Townshend Theater Curtains Exhibit
The Painted Theater Curtains Exhibit showcases the historic stage curtains currently hanging at the Townshend, Vermont Town Hall. In honor of her husband and son, Mrs. Kate Dutton donated the entire sum of money needed for building the “Townshend Town Hall and Opera House,” as it was titled when it was erected in 1922. Its’s highly probable that Mrs. Dutton commissioned these unique curtains at the same time.
The curtains were used as back-drops for plays that had become popular after the Civil War, during the days before radio and TV. These curtains, give us a rare glimpse into the struggles and the joys of small-town life.
In face of population loss and economic decline [during 1880-1900] Vermont’s towns gamely hung on. To help stem the exodus and buttress native pride, local benefactors often built opera houses or renovated town halls to serve as cultural centers. “The wealthy family in town might pay for one of these curtains,” says Michael Sherman, while “the people who stayed on tried to create a cultural life in these small towns.”
“Despite the grand backdrop, stock fare was generally performed…. There were a lot of one-act plays, skits, minstrel shows, scenes from Shakespeare,” says Sherman. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin, he adds, “was particularly popular. Choral and theater groups from Boston and New York City would tour in summer, –their travel to small-town America made possible by the railroad.”
[Use of the curtains] faded as the nation’s appetite for entertainment shifted and quickened with the technology that shaped it. Rural decline didn’t so much consign the curtains to backstages and basements as did the coming of radio, film, and the automobile.
(From an article entitled, “Curtain Call” by Ed Welles, Preservation Magazine: The Magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, May/June 2002.)
More Information
- About the Dutton Family and Townshend Town Hall
- About the Theater Curtain Artists William R. Stuart and Lee Lash
- Volunteers