Bury the Hatchet tells the story of Lizzie Borden at the Anvil Theatre, October 17

U.K.–based Out of the Forest Theatre’s production fuses gallows humour and vaudevillian horror

Anvil Theatre presents Bury the Hatchet, a production by award-winning U.K. ensemble Out of the Forest Theatre, on October 17 at 7:30 pm.

Andrew Borden and his wife Abby are found dead in Fall River, Massachusetts in August 1892. Their daughter Lizzie is the main suspect. The story goes that she wielded the axe that killed them—though she was tried and acquitted of the crime.

Lizzie became an American icon for her reputation as a dangerous madwoman. Set to bluegrass music and murder ballads, Bury The Hatchet fuses gallows humour with vaudevillian horror to reexamine this murder case, one of the most infamous in history.

Out Of The Forest Theatre is known for taking misremembered or forgotten stories, setting them to folk music, and using them to better understand modern society. This results in irreverently presented, knee-slapping historical theatre with a modern revisionist twist.

Tickets to Bury The Hatchet are available through the Anvil Theatre.

Post sponsored by Anvil Theatre.

Featured

The Horseradish Theatre’s Number 13 returns to the stage, December 11 to 13

Slavic-accented show revolves around a romantic evening gone hilariously wrong

Cirque du Soleil invites audiences to give more than a gift as LUZIA lands in Vancouver, November 4

Inspired by the artistry of Mexico, acclaimed production delivers a cultural experience that resonates long after the final curtain call

Jordan brings everyday superpowers and wide-eyed wonder to The Cultch

Playwright Yvette Nolan reimagines the life of Jordan River Anderson, the boy behind a monumental Canadian government initiative to secure equal health care for First Nations youth

Dial M for Murder, Antigone, Wildwoman among contenders in Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards nominees

In medium-budget category, shows like The Effect, Fire Never Dies, and People, Places & Things stand out, while small-budget division features diverse field of nominees

Meadows of Stone pays tribute to loss, courage, and camaraderie of First World War, to November 7

Playing at the Firehall Arts Centre and Burnaby’s Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, new musical draws on research into volunteer nurses

Theatre review: Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors mixes broad slapstick with biting commentary

Gender-bending Arts Club production of Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen’s gothic comedy includes plenty of absurd humour and one perfectly cast vampire

Things My Dad Kept brings grief, humour, and a filing cabinet full of love to Chutzpah! Festival, November 4

Playwright Ronit Rubinstein’s solo show delves into her relationship with her late father through objects and memories he left behind

Zee Zee Theatre stages Hedwig and the Angry Inch, November 12 to 29

Four-time Tony Award–winning rock musical takes audiences on a wild ride through themes of identity, heartbreak, and belonging

With Epigone, playwright Kevin Kerr turns to ancient Greece to process contemporary loss

In new Electric Company Theatre play, premiering at the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival, real grief over his sister mixes with fictional elements and age-old myth

Cirque du Soleil’s LUZIA explores Mexico’s vibrant culture and nature

The touring production returns to Vancouver after seven years, featuring a 14-metre rain curtain and giant treadmills powered by 28 car batteries

Theatre review: Metro Theatre’s Nuncrackers puts an early festive twist on the musical franchise

This time out, the Nunsense sisters produce a chaotic Christmas special for cable-access television

Jonathon Paterson gets an actorly one-man workout in Daniel MacIvor’s House on November 6

Willow Lewmos directs the darkly comedic solo show as part of the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival

Seven deadly sins await at the Beaumont Studios’ Flushment Day, to October 30

Immersive theatre experience arrives just in time for spooky season, featuring freaky performances and mischievous sewer rats

Theatre review: All the feels, as Big Stuff takes an open-hearted look at the way we hang on to things

With plenty of laughter, improv-comedy veterans Naomi Snieckus and Matt Baram candidly explore loss and how we attach meaning to objects

The Chan Centre hosts National Geographic Live: Wild Cats Revealed With Sandesh Kadur, November 18

Award-winning filmmaker discusses his mission to highlight the unmatched diversity of wild cats in India

Yankl and the Beanstalk brings Jewish pantomime to the Chutzpah! Festival, November 14 and 15

Hilarious production is bursting with outrageous innuendos and queer chaos

Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors takes a bite out of the gothic-horror classic’s sexual politics

Actor Steffanie Davis plays three roles in the Arts Club production, including the gleefully unhinged, bug-munching Renfield

CapU Centre hosts It's A Wonderful Life and The Importance of Being Earnest, November 12 to 21

Running in repertory, two plays shine light on what people don’t always see

Theatre review: Secret Ingredients is a sweet experiment in human connection and the pains of speaking honestly

Keely Rois O’Brien’s season opener at Gateway Theatre has a simple message: if you don’t know how to say it, say it with cake

Kevin Loring's Where the Blood Mixes lands at the Firehall Arts Centre, November 14 to December 6

Governor General Award–winning play about a father and daughter tells of loss and redemption, humanity, and survival

Theatre review: Darkly humorous and resonant, Red Demon considers how people respond to fear and the unfamiliar

Riddled with language barriers and discrimination, the rice & beans theatre and Gokko Creative Society production grapples with the possibility of unity and acceptance

THEATREStir VancouverSeptember 19, 2026Partner Content, Anvil Theatre, Out of the Forest Theatre

Bury the Hatchet tells the story of Lizzie Borden at the Anvil Theatre, October 17

U.K.–based Out of the Forest Theatre’s production fuses gallows humour and vaudevillian horror

Anvil Theatre presents Bury the Hatchet, a production by award-winning U.K. ensemble Out of the Forest Theatre, on October 17 at 7:30 pm.

Andrew Borden and his wife Abby are found dead in Fall River, Massachusetts in August 1892. Their daughter Lizzie is the main suspect. The story goes that she wielded the axe that killed them—though she was tried and acquitted of the crime.

Lizzie became an American icon for her reputation as a dangerous madwoman. Set to bluegrass music and murder ballads, Bury The Hatchet fuses gallows humour with vaudevillian horror to reexamine this murder case, one of the most infamous in history.

Out Of The Forest Theatre is known for taking misremembered or forgotten stories, setting them to folk music, and using them to better understand modern society. This results in irreverently presented, knee-slapping historical theatre with a modern revisionist twist.

Tickets to Bury The Hatchet are available through the Anvil Theatre.

Related Articles

Check out our Instagram @stirvancouver

CONTACT US

LINKS