Navy Pier's Chicago Shakespeare Theater opens new 3rd stage

CHICAGO (AP) - Chicago Shakespeare Theater on the city's Navy Pier is starting performances on a new third stage.

The inaugural performance at The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare will be James Thierrée's "The Toad Knew" scheduled for Tuesday. The stage's ribbon-cutting was last week.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater officials say they were looking for an environmentally sustainable approach when they undertook construction, reusing parts of Navy Pier's former Skyline Stage to build the indoor theater.

The new, 33,000-square foot expansion has a flexible design. It can be configured to seat between 150 and 850 people. Construction started in March 2016 and finished earlier this year at a cost of $35 million.

Upcoming performances at the new stage include "Macbeth" and "Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night's Dream."