Seattle's Intiman Theatre announced this weekend that it has cancelled its upcoming season and laid off its entire staff of around 20 people. The news comes just two weeks after theater officials said that they had raised more than $450,000—enough, they claimed, to keep the theater open and artistic director Kate Whoriskey's season on track. But consulting managing director Susan Trapnell told the Seattle Times that, in retrospect, fundraising goals "weren't set high enough" to save the season.
"By canceling the current season, we preserve and protect the ability to serve the community in 2012, when the board intends to reopen the theatre and continue Intiman's history of presenting this community with engaging art," the theater said in a statement on its
website. "We are still working through details of how this impacts our constituents and will have more information available in the next week. All ticket holders will receive information in the coming days."
Speaking to Back Stage last month, Intiman board president Kim Anderson attributed the theater's recent financial troubles to mismanagement by its former managing director. "These were circumstances that took a difficult situation and made it extraordinarily difficult to recover from," Anderson said.
Pictured: Kate Whoriskey (Photo: Getty Images)
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