The Intiman Theatre, one of Seattle’s most influential drama groups, may be poised to make a comeback.
The company announced Wednesday, Aug. 24, that it has hired Andrew Russell, a former associate producer for Intiman, as its consulting artistic director through Oct. 1. His current job is to develop an artistic plan that will help raise money to retire the company’s $500,000 debt.
It was immediately clear why the theatre company was offering Russell such a short timeline to complete the task.
Russell, a longtime independent producer and director, will be facing one of his toughest audiences when he develops a plan to present to donors and the company’s landlord, the Seattle Center.
The Seattle Times quoted Intiman Board Chairman Bruce Bradburn as saying, “We think this is, truly, good news. We spoke with many artists in the community, and received four very interesting proposals for the future. We thought Andrew had some very exciting, fresh ideas. Then we voted — should the Intiman pack it in, or move forward? It was unanimous that we move forward."
Russell told The Times that he wanted to take Intiman back to its roots and make it “a place created by theater artists, not run by one godlike director."
It wasn’t clear who Russell was referring to with the comment concerning “godlike director,” but Intiman has repeatedly found itself in financial trouble thanks to economic woes and overspending on the part of past theatre managers.
Russell told The Times that the plan to get Intiman back on its feet must be "financially viable and artistically robust.”
“We'd become a leaner and more nimble organization, more pay-as-you-go. That's one of the main things the board learned" from the fiscal crisis that shut down Intiman last spring.
Russell plans to develop a short "micro-season" next summer, using local talent to produce the plays. In the meantime, the theatre will be rented to various troupes and companies. Some of the groups planning to use the Seattle Center theatre are the Seattle Shakespeare Company, the Whim W'Him Dance Company and Unexpected Productions.
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