Christine Hadsel, Director of Curtains Without Borders, will give a talk and show slides of New Hampshire’s historic stage scenery at the Blazing Star Grange Hall in Danbury at 5 PM on Sunday, October 27. A potluck supper will follow. The evening is free and open to the public. (Curtains Without Borders will also make a presentation in Wilmot at 1 PM on the 27th; details here.)
A hundred years ago, grand drapes and painted backdrops like those at the Grange in Danbury were the primary artistic feature of almost every village and town in northern New England. These theater curtains provided color and escapism in opera houses, town halls and Grange Halls. The scenery was permanently installed and made available for everything from traveling troupes to speakers, town meetings to graduations, and locally-produced variety shows to weddings. Providing entertainment and social interaction has always been an important part of Grange activities, and the painted backdrops were also a feature of Grange ceremonies.
Organized in 1875, the Blazing Star Grange #71 is home to a special and complete set of theatrical curtains and set pieces painted in 1921 by Egbert L. Foster, a lifelong resident of Manchester. “Finding an entire set of backdrops, teasers, ‘wings,’ and flats produced by a small scenic company is rare. Although research has shown that Foster produced work in New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts, only one other curtain by him has been found – in Deerfield, New Hampshire,” says Hadsel. In addition, the Danbury hall boasts a typical Grange advertising curtain painted by another New Hampshire artist in the early 1930s.
Curtains Without Borders is a non-profit organization based in Vermont. Its mission is to find, document, and preserve historic painted theater curtains. Since 2009, they have located and documented about 150 pieces of painted scenery once used on 83 stages in New Hampshire. The organization has preserved 185 theater curtains in Vermont and is now focused on working with local groups to preserve New Hampshire’s theater curtains.
Egbert Foster’s grand drape in Deerfield was preserved in 2011. Next month, the conservation team will work on a recently unearthed grand drape painted in the early 1900s for Meriden’s town hall as well as about 12 flats by an unknown artist that are stored behind the famous curtain by Maxfield Parrish in Plainfield, New Hampshire.
The Blazing Star Grange Hall is on North Road in Danbury, at the junction of Routes 104 and 4. For more information, contact Phyllis Rockwell at 744-2332.