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Fastening Scripts to Your Theater

One of the things to consider when using puppet scripts is how you will fasten them to your theater. The key is to do it in a way that will protect them, but keep them easily seen. In this post I’ll share a couple of different ways to hang them.

Initially, we fastened just the script to the theater, but after several were damaged, we realized they needed to be protected somehow. I purchased a box of top-loading sheet protectors from a local office supply store and inserted the plays in them. NOTE: If possible, you want to get non-glossy protectors and make sure they are clear plastic, not textured.

We have a PVC pipe frame theater with cloth curtains, so we used safety pins to fasten the protectors to the theater and then loaded the plays inside the protectors. That way, there were no pin holes in the scripts.

Using the sheet protectors, you can load all the plays you’re going to do inside them—one protector would have all the page 1 scripts in presentation order, a second one would have all the page 2 scripts, and so on. Then, when you finish a play, simply move those pages to the back and the next one is ready to go.

After a while of using the pins, we noticed they were damaging the theater curtains. So then, my wife got the idea of using Velcro. We sewed small pieces of one Velcro strip across the front of the theater and stapled small pieces of the companion strip onto the sheet protectors. The Velcro was plenty strong enough to hold the protectors.

Another method I’ve seen that works is to fasten your scripts (or sheet protectors) to a wire coat hanger. Then twist the hook part so it is perpendicular to the hanger and you can place it right over the front of the theater. To change scripts, you simply change hangers.

You will need to exercise care with this method or you could damage your scripts with each practice or performance.

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