Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Chicago Shakespeare Theater is a nonprofit professional theater company based at Navy Pier in Chicago, known for Shakespeare productions, new theatrical works, touring programs, and arts education.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) is a nonprofit professional theater company headquartered at Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1986 by artistic director Barbara Gaines, the organization began as the Chicago Shakespeare Workshop, presenting performances on the roof of the Red Lion Pub in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. It subsequently became the Chicago Shakespeare Repertory and adopted its current name in 1999. The company spent its first twelve seasons in residence at the Ruth Page Theater. Its early repertory combined widely known Shakespeare plays, including Hamlet and King Lear, with less frequently staged works such as Troilus and Cressida and Timon of Athens. CST developed a reputation for treating canonical drama as living theater rather than museum repertory, using contemporary performance styles, adaptable staging, and an emphasis on making Shakespeare accessible to broad audiences. A major institutional turning point came in the late 1990s, when CST planned and financed a permanent home at Navy Pier. The move broadened the company’s public profile and placed it within one of Chicago’s most heavily visited cultural and tourist destinations. The purpose-built complex opened for the 1999–2000 season and provided performance, administrative, and audience facilities in a dedicated seven-story venue. Its principal Courtyard Theater uses a thrust-stage configuration and seats roughly 500 people, while the smaller Theater Upstairs provides a black-box environment for more intimate productions and experimental programming. In 2017, CST expanded its Navy Pier campus with The Yard, a flexible venue capable of accommodating different seating capacities and stage arrangements. Depending on the production, The Yard can be configured for approximately 150 to 850 audience members and can support proscenium, thrust, or in-the-round staging. This flexibility allows CST to present large-scale musicals, devised theater, dance-theater, family programming, and productions requiring unconventional spatial relationships between performers and audiences. CST’s activities extend beyond its Shakespeare series. Its programming includes plays and musicals by contemporary writers, original commissions, world premieres, North American premieres, touring productions, family and youth work, and educational initiatives. Its World’s Stage program has brought international and touring theater to Chicago, while education and family programs introduce students and younger audiences to performance, dramatic literature, and Shakespearean texts. The organization is reported to present more than 600 performances across approximately 48 weeks of the year. The theater has earned substantial recognition in Chicago and nationally. It has received numerous Joseph Jefferson Awards and three Laurence Olivier Awards, and in 2008 it won the Regional Theatre Tony Award. CST participates in professional and educational networks including Theatre Communications Group, the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, and the National Council of Teachers of English. Its brand positioning combines the cultural authority of Shakespeare with the openness and experimentation of a contemporary producing institution. Rather than operating solely as a classical repertory company, CST uses Shakespeare as one part of a larger model encompassing new work, musical theater, international exchange, community engagement, and learning. Its Navy Pier location, multiple venues, and broad programming have helped it serve both local Chicago audiences and visitors seeking major theatrical experiences.
History
Chicago Shakespeare Theater was established in 1986 by Barbara Gaines as the Chicago Shakespeare Workshop. Its first performances took place in an unconventional setting: the roof of the Red Lion Pub in Lincoln Park. The early company soon changed its name to the Chicago Shakespeare Repertory and developed a regular artistic identity centered on Shakespeare and other classical texts. For its first twelve seasons, the company was based at the Ruth Page Theater. This period established CST as an important Chicago theater institution. Its repertory included both frequently produced works, such as Hamlet and King Lear, and less familiar Shakespeare plays, including Troilus and Cressida and Timon of Athens. The company’s approach was regarded as innovative and critically strong, but the Ruth Page facility imposed practical limitations on production scale, technical resources, and audience capacity. In 1997, CST announced plans to relocate to a purpose-built complex at Navy Pier. The move required a substantial capital campaign and a public effort to establish the project as a major Chicago cultural development. Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley designated April 23, 1997, as Shakespeare Repertory Day during the campaign surrounding the relocation. The company opened its 1999–2000 season in the new Navy Pier facility and adopted the name Chicago Shakespeare Theater. The Navy Pier complex gave CST a permanent institutional base with administrative offices, a box office, and multiple performance spaces. The approximately 500-seat Courtyard Theater became the principal venue, using a thrust-stage design that places audiences close to the action while retaining the flexibility of a deep proscenium. The smaller Theater Upstairs, a roughly 200-seat black-box venue, supported more intimate productions and special projects. The first performance in the new facility was associated with Eric Idle reading from his novel The Road to Mars. After the move, the company expanded its scale and programming. Shakespeare remained central, but CST also produced contemporary plays, musicals, family shows, educational events, and original works. It hosted productions by other theater companies and developed international and touring activity through its World’s Stage programming. The organization’s growth made it one of the most prominent theater companies in Chicago and the broader Midwest. A further facilities milestone arrived in 2017 with the opening of The Yard, a third venue connected to the Navy Pier campus. Unlike a fixed auditorium, The Yard can be rearranged for different production requirements, with capacity ranging from approximately 150 to 850 seats and configurations ranging from proscenium to in-the-round. The expansion enabled CST to accommodate larger musicals, movement-based work, immersive concepts, and productions needing unusual audience layouts. CST’s artistic profile has increasingly included new work alongside Shakespeare. Examples cited in its repertory include the world premieres of The Notebook in 2022, Illinoise and Judgment Day in 2024, and Billie Jean and Rome Sweet Rome in 2025. The theater has also presented North American premieres, including Six in 2018. These projects demonstrate an operating model that treats a Shakespeare institution as a broad producing platform rather than a single-author venue. The company’s public identity is reinforced by its awards and professional affiliations. CST has received many Joseph Jefferson Awards, three Laurence Olivier Awards, and the 2008 Regional Theatre Tony Award. It belongs to Theatre Communications Group, the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, and the National Council of Teachers of English. Through education and family programming, it also serves as a learning institution, connecting schools and younger audiences with theater-making and dramatic literature. Today, Chicago Shakespeare Theater operates as a nonprofit professional theater company at Navy Pier. Its combination of classical repertory, new plays and musicals, touring work, family programming, education, and adaptable venues gives it a broad audience proposition: it serves Chicago residents, students, theater professionals, and visitors to the city while maintaining Shakespeare as its defining artistic reference point.
- 2024
World premieres of Illinoise and Judgment Day
[1]The theater’s new-work programming included the world premieres of Illinoise and Judgment Day.
- 2022
World premiere of The Notebook
[1]CST premiered The Notebook, a musical with music and lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson and a book by Bekah Brunstetter.
- 2018
North American premiere of Six
[1]CST presented a North American premiere of the musical Six, later associated with a Broadway production.
- 2017
The Yard opens
[1]CST expanded its campus with The Yard, a flexible third theater capable of multiple seating and staging configurations.
- 2016
The Tempest receives a Joseph Jefferson Award
[1]CST’s 2016 production of The Tempest received a Joseph Jefferson Award.
- 2008
Regional Theatre Tony Award
[1]Chicago Shakespeare Theater won the Regional Theatre Tony Award.
- 1999
Permanent Navy Pier complex opens
[1]The company moved into its dedicated seven-story Navy Pier complex and adopted the name Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
- 1997
Navy Pier relocation announced
[1]CST announced plans for a permanent purpose-built facility at Navy Pier and began a major capital campaign.
- 1987
Name changed to Chicago Shakespeare Repertory
[1]The young company adopted a new name as it developed a more established repertory identity.
- 1986
Company founded as the Chicago Shakespeare Workshop
[1]Barbara Gaines founded the company, which began performances on the roof of the Red Lion Pub in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Products and positioning
A major nonprofit producing theater that connects Shakespearean repertory with contemporary drama, musicals, international theater, education, and flexible audience-centered staging.
Classical theater · 1986
Shakespeare repertory
CST’s core artistic offering is professional production of Shakespeare’s plays. Its repertory has included both canonical titles such as Hamlet and King Lear and less frequently performed works including Troilus and Cressida and Timon of Athens. Productions use contemporary direction, design, and performance practices while retaining the company’s connection to Shakespearean language and dramatic structure.
New theater
Contemporary plays and musicals
Beyond Shakespeare, CST produces modern plays, musicals, adaptations, and commissioned works. This strand has included large-scale theatrical premieres and works based on music, biography, literature, and popular culture, allowing the organization to function as a contemporary producing theater as well as a classical company.
International and touring theater
World’s Stage
World’s Stage brings touring productions and work from other theater companies to Chicago. The program broadens CST’s artistic range beyond its own productions and positions Navy Pier as a venue for international and nationally touring performance.
Arts education
Family and education programming
CST develops theater experiences for children, families, students, and educators. These activities connect performance with classroom learning, dramatic literature, and audience participation, helping make Shakespeare and live theater accessible to younger and first-time audiences.
Flexible performance venue · 2017
The Yard
Opened in 2017, The Yard is a configurable theater space within CST’s Navy Pier campus. It can support approximately 150 to 850 seats and arrangements ranging from proscenium to in-the-round, making it suitable for productions with different scales, technical requirements, and audience relationships.
Brand decisions
2017
Expand the Navy Pier campus with The YardStrategyBackground
CST needed additional capacity and greater spatial flexibility for productions beyond the fixed formats of its existing venues.
Action taken
The theater added The Yard, a flexible venue that can be configured for different capacities and stage-audience relationships.
Aftermath
The expanded campus increased CST’s ability to present large-scale musicals, experimental work, dance-theater, and productions requiring adaptable staging.
1997
Move from Ruth Page Theater to Navy PierStrategyBackground
The company had established a strong reputation at the Ruth Page Theater but faced limitations associated with the older and more restricted facility.
Action taken
CST announced plans for a purpose-built Navy Pier complex and undertook a large capital campaign to finance the relocation.
Aftermath
The company opened its new home for the 1999–2000 season, gaining larger institutional facilities, multiple venues, and a higher-profile public location.
Recent events
- 2025
Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents Billie Jean[1]
Product launch
The company announced or presented Billie Jean, a new play by Lauren Gunderson based on tennis player and equality advocate Billie Jean King.
- 2025
Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents Rome Sweet Rome[1]
Product launch
The Q Brothers Collective created Rome Sweet Rome, a hip-hop adaptation of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar for the theater.
- 2024
Chicago Shakespeare Theater stages Illinoise[1]
Product launch
CST presented the world premiere of Illinoise, conceived by Justin Peck and Jackie Sibblies Drury and built around the music of Sufjan Stevens.
- 2024
Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents Judgment Day[1]
Product launch
The theater produced the world premiere of Judgment Day, written by Rob Ulin and directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, with Jason Alexander in the cast.
- 2022
Chicago Shakespeare Theater presents The Notebook[1]
Product launch
The theater staged the world premiere of The Notebook, with music and lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson and a book by Bekah Brunstetter.
- 2017
The Yard expands Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Navy Pier campus[1]
Other
CST added The Yard, a flexible performance venue designed to support a broad range of seating plans, scales, and theatrical formats.
- 2008
Chicago Shakespeare Theater wins the Regional Theatre Tony Award[1]
Other
The theater received the Regional Theatre Tony Award in recognition of its artistic and institutional contribution to American theater.
Sources2 sources
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