Burning Bluebeard at The Catamounts

Mixing  comedy, vaudeville, clowning, and meta-theatricality, Burning Bluebeard retells the story of the tragic 1903 Chicago Iroquois Theatre fire from the perspective of the performers. A love letter from artists to audience, Bluebeard celebrates the way in which theater brings us together in moments of both joy and catastrophe.

Said Newcity Stage of the original Chicago production: 

Burning Bluebeard represents the cumulative potential of theater as an art form: a poetic, terrifying, gut-buster tour de force that tells the audience exactly what this show is going to be—a deconstructed retelling of the 1903 Iroquois Theatre Fire from the eyes of the artists who worked on “Mr. Bluebeard,” the production that sent the theater up in flames—even while building the sense that this time fate may be averted and we might see the second act and the victims of that fire could be saved.

The piece runs at the Dairy January 31-February 21, 2026. It is being directed by Artistic Director Amanda Berg Wilson, who will give it a signature Catamounts immersive staging, transforming the Carsen Theater into a space which integrates audience with performers for a cathartic, communal theatrical experience.

Sunday performances on February 1, 14, and 21 will be followed by a community gathering, and tickets include food and drink for those with and without dietary restrictions.