Iroquois Theatre fire the "Chicago Tribune", one of the "Top Five Funniest Shows of 2011" by WBEZ Radio and one of the "Twelve Outstanding Ensembles of 2011" by "Time Out Chicago"'s Kris Vire. The Ruffians theater company has remounted the production during the Christmas holiday period each year since 2013, mostly with the original cast. Iroquois Theatre fire The Iroquois Theatre fire happened on December 30, 1903, in Chicago, Illinois. It was the deadliest theater fire and the deadliest single-building fire in United States history. At least 602 people died as a result of the fire, but not all the deaths were reported,
Theater in Chicago production. Chicago theater has a long record of introducing new plays and playwrights. Many of the theaters in Chicago have new play workshop programs to cultivate work from current playwrights. Chicago Dramatists, which was begun by a group of ex-students of a playwriting workshop at Victory Gardens Theater, has an ongoing program of developing new writers, most notably Rebecca Gilman. The Victory Gardens Theater plays host to a dozen resident playwrights and most of the productions there are premieres of their plays, a number of which have gone on to productions elsewhere. Some of these include James Sherman's "Beau Jest",