The Intiman Theatre has announced that it will cancel its 2011 season and lay off all its employees due to financial straits.
The theater's board of trustees on Saturday voted to cancel the remaining four shows of the season after the final Sunday performance of "All My Sons." In a statement on its website, the theater said "with our current income limitations there's no alternative."
Our primary intent has and continues to be to preserve the future of Intiman - and our hope was to save the season, too. Simultaneous efforts to accomplish both are simply unattainable. While we are driven by that "show must go on" kind of determination, we must ensure that shows go on the Intiman stage for years and that can only happen if we pause, plan, and prepare for strong seasons in 2012 and beyond.
The theater hopes to reopen in 2012.
The Seattle Times reports that about 20 employees will be laid off. The Intiman won a Tony Award in 2006 for outstanding American regional theater. It has debuted stage works that went on to national acclaim.
The theater recently met an emergency fundraising goal of $500,000, but officials said it wasn't enough to get through the season
