Some of the older theaters have a pin and rail fly system. These theaters are known as "hemp houses", or "rope houses". The name comes from all the ¾" manila hemp rope that runs from the batten through the loft block, over the head block and then down to the rail where you operate and weight it. The problem with the system, besides having to run it 60 feet up in the air, is that you need to run all the ropes at the same time. For example, you may have five ropes coming from the batten, and it is hard to pull on the ropes at the same time. A metal piece called a clew is used to join the ropes into one set making it easier to fly everything equal. At the bottom of the clew, there is a place to put the operating rope on so you can fly the batten in and out. Another problem is that you need to hang the scenery and muscle the batten up to the grid so you could put on the proper weight to balance it. That is very hard on the back and takes a lot of people on the pin rail to lift it. When it is to the grid you can tie it off on the belaying pins and get ready to weight it for real. A sandbag is attached to the clew to balance the batten with the scenery so it is easy to fly the in and out from stage. In a hemp house, the operating rail and the fly rail are the same level and it is all the way up in the air. That creates a problem for most theaters because you need to not just hire a crew that isn’t afraid of heights, but is also willing to climb the ladders 60 feet in the air time and time again to make changes to the fly system. The Murphy Theater in Wilmington is a perfect example of a "hemp house". Now, fly systems have been updated a little to meet today’s needs.

Updated 12/3/2001 by Brian Batiuk