History of Chicago and south branches of the Chicago River, which flows through the city's downtown. The three white stripes represent the North, West and South sides of the city, Lake Michigan being the east side. The most famous and serious disaster was the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. On December 30, 1903 the "absolutely fireproof", five-week-old Iroquois Theater was engulfed by fire. The fire lasted less than thirty minutes; 602 people died as a result of being burned, asphyxiated, or trampled. The S.S. "Eastland" was a cruise ship based in Chicago and used for tours. On 24 July 1915—a calm, sunny day—the
Theater in Chicago Jeffrey Sweet's "The Action Against Sol Schumann", Kristine Thatcher's "Voice of Good Hope", Charles Smith's "Jelly Belly", Steve Carter's "Pecong", Claudia Allen's "Deed of Trust", and Douglas Post's "Earth and Sky". Stage Left Theatre's Downstage Left program has cultivated nationally known playwrights Mia McCullough, David Rush, Margaret Lewis and David Alan Moore. Theatre Building Chicago formerly had an ongoing program for the development of new musicals until being taken over by Stage 773 in 2010. Chicago dell'Arte is local company currently creating and producing new works of Commedia dell'arte. The Company also sponsors and in-house troupe known as "Le Corone