First published in 1918 by Mrs. James W. Hunt, The Womanless Wedding belongs to a long‑lost theatrical tradition in early 20th‑century America: the “womanless wedding.” These all‑male productions — often staged by civic groups, churches, or community clubs — turned the conventions of respectable marriage upside down by casting men in every role: bride, groom, bridesmaids, flower girls, even the mother of the bride. Audiences flocked to see neighbors and local dignitaries in d

Henry Blake Fuller, The Puppet-Booth: Twelve Plays (1896), containing the one-act drama At St. Judas's. Step inside the sacristy of St. Judas Church, a space usually reserved for ritual and preparation, now transformed into a stage for intrigue, longing, and theatrical flair. On the surface, a wedding is about to take place—a celebration of propriety, duty, and social expectation. But in Fuller’s hands, and through this contemporary queer reinterpretation, nothing is ever qui

In 1867, a lone voice rose in a room that was not prepared to hear it. Before a congress of legal scholars, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs attempted what had never been publicly attempted on such a stage: to defend same-sex love not as sin, pathology, or criminal behavior, but as a natural and innate part of human life. His speech—chronicled in Gladius Furens (Raging Sword) pamphlet—was among the first modern arguments for the legal, social, and moral legitimacy of queer existence. He

Charles F. Horner and the Redpath-Horner Chautauqua and Lyceum Bureau serve as the documentary foundation for the development of the performance work A Series of Unmentionable Acts. In the summer of 1906, Charles F. Horner launched the first circuit chautauqua program of the Premier Circuit. After several years working for other managers, Horner ventured out and established the Redpath-Horner Chautauqua and Lyceum Bureau in 1912. Officed in Kansas City, Missouri, the Redpath-

A Series of Unmentionable Acts is the inaugural performance for Queertauqua. The 2-hour experience includes orations, period music, and theatrical staging of now recognized gay historical events that occurred simultaneous to the heyday of the early-20th century Chautauqua (a traveling tent show), but were taboo and never celebrated due to their “unmentionable” nature. Reimagining the Chautauqua and offering it in several locations throughout the Kansas City Metro area, A Seri

Five Performers. Multiple Roles. Queer History. Seeking 5 performers Experimental queer theater • Kansas City Muti-role, gender-expansive casting 2 German-Speaking performers needed. Puppetry experience a plus Timeline 2 table readings (Aug) 6 to 8 full cast rehearsals + target rehearsals, as needed (Aug -Sept) 6 performances (Oct) To be considered Submit the following: A brief statement (written or recorded) on what draws you to this work. Evidence of prior performance (reel

This October, Queertauqua launches with its inaugural production, A Series of Unmentionable Acts—a bold and immersive theatrical experience that resurrects queer histories once silenced, censored, or erased.

Queertauqua is a reimagining of the late-nineteenth and early–twentieth centuries traveling tent shows–Chautauquas– queerly . Pitched in the portable edifices of large canvas tents, chautauquas provided temporal and easily repeatable educational lectures, inspirational speeches, and entertaining performances on pine platform stages that often acted as the only adult continuing education and contemporary art and cultural experiences for rural midwesterners of the era. At time