Intiman Theatre is a resident theater company in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington, founded in 1972 by Margaret "Megs" Booker, who named it after Strindberg's Intimate Theater in Stockholm. Through its history, the professional theatre company has been based at various venues in Seattle; since 2021, it has been located as theatre-in-residence at

Seattle Central College Seattle Central College is a public college in Seattle, Washington, United States. With North Seattle College and South Seattle College, it is one of the three colleges that comprise the Seattle Colleges District. The college has a substantial ...

, performing in two venues on that campus.

Organization

With a self-declared focus on "a resident acting ensemble, fidelity to the playwright's intentions and a close relationship between actor and audience", the Intiman soon called itself as "Seattle's classic theater". Its debut season in 1972 included ''

Rosmersholm ''Rosmersholm'' () is an 1886 Play (theatre), play written by Norwegian people, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It tells the story of Johannes Rosmer, an aristocratic former clergyman and owner of the Rosmersholm manor who is haunted by his wif ...

'', '' The Creditors'', ''

The Underpants ''The Underpants'' is the most recent adaptation of the 1910 German farce '' Die Hose'' by the playwright Carl Sternheim. The adaptation was written by Steve Martin. It was produced at New York City's Off-Broadway theater Classic Stage Compa ...

'', and ''Brecht on Brecht''.Paula Becker
Intiman Theatre launches its debut season in Kirkland on December 13, 1972
HistoryLink, September 10, 2006. Accessed online 2009-11-07. The theater has been host to

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony the Tiger, cartoon mascot for Frosted Flakes cereal * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * ...

-nominated Director

Bartlett Sher Bartlett B. Sher (born March 27, 1959) is an American theatre director. ''The New York Times'' has described him as "one of the most original and exciting directors, not only in the American theater but also in the international world of opera". ...

(who served as both a director and artistic director), Tony-nominated actress

Celia Keenan-Bolger Celia Keenan-Bolger (born January 26, 1978) is an American actress and singer. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for portraying Scout Finch in the play ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' (2018). She has also been Tony-nominated f ...

, and film actor

Tom Skerritt Thomas Roy Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an American actor and director, who has appeared in over 170 film and television productions since 1962. The beginning of his film career coincided with the New Hollywood movement, with a breakthroug ...

. It was also home to the world premieres of the Tony-winning

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

'' The Light in the Piazza'',Ernio Hernandez
The Light in the Piazza Shines as World Premiere Lucas-Guettel Musical Starts in Seattle, May 31
Playbill, May 31, 2003. Accessed online 2013-3-20

Craig Lucas Craig Lucas (born April 30, 1951) is an American playwright, screenwriter, theatre director, musical actor, and film director. Biography Born on April 30, 1951, he was found abandoned in a car in Atlanta, Georgia. Lucas was adopted when he was e ...

's ''Singing Forest''Ernio Hernande
Craig Lucas' Singing Forest World Premiere Opens at Seattle's Intiman, July 30
Playbill, July 30, 2004. Accessed online 2013-3-20 and

Dan Savage Daniel Keenan Savage (born October 7, 1964) is an American author, media pundit, journalist, and LGBTQ community activist. He writes Savage Love, an internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column. In 2010, Savage and his husband, ...

's "Miracle!".Adam Hetric
Streamlined Intiman Theatre's Summer Festival to Premiere Dan Savage's Miracle!
, Playbill, June 21, 2012. Access online 2013-3-20 Lucas also served as the Associate Artistic Director. Intiman won the 2006

Regional Theatre Tony Award The Regional Theatre Tony Award is a special recognition Tony Award given annually to a regional theater company in the United States. The winner is recommended by a committee of drama critics. Background Initially presented in 1948 to Robert ...

.Joe Adcock
Intiman Wins Tony as best regional theatre
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 17, 2006. Accessed online 2008-06-02 In April 2011, Intiman Theatre recognized the need to pause, reflect and relaunch with a financially sustainable and artistically vibrant new model. After listening to input from artists, audiences, funders and the community, Intiman launched its first summer

theatre festival Theatre festivals are amongst the earliest types of festival. Classical Greek theatre was associated with religious festivals dedicated to Dionysus, called the City Dionysia. The medieval mystery plays were presented at the major Christian feast ...

in July and August 2012 under the leadership of Artistic Director Andrew Russell and Managing Director Keri Kellerman. The festival, curated from the impulses of an

artist collective An artist collective or art group or artist group is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims. The aims of an artist collective can include almost anything t ...

, featured four plays and a repertory company of 17 actors who stretched through over 40 roles.Laura Dannen
Intiman Theatre's Summer Festival Opens With Ibsen, Shakespeare and Savage
, Seattle Met, June 20, 2012. Accessed online 2013-3-20. The Intiman Theatre Playhouse was renamed the Cornish Playhouse in 2013 and is now managed by the

Cornish College of the Arts Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) was a Private college, private art school, art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914 by music teacher Nellie Cornish. The college's main campus is in the Denny Triangle, Seattle, Denny Triangle ...

. In 2017, Phillip Chavira became Intiman's first executive director, and first person of color to lead this organization. At the end of 2017, Andrew Russell completed his tenure as Producing Artistic Director and Jennifer Zeyl became Intiman's seventh artistic director.

History

Intiman's original location was a 65-seat theater in

Kirkland, Washington Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb east of Seattle, its population was 92,175 in the 2020 U.S. census which made it the sixth largest city in King County and the twelfth largest city in the state of Washington. ...

. Under the leadership of artistic directors Megs and John Booker, the Intiman officially incorporated as a non-profit theatre in 1973. Over the next few years, the company mounted productions at

Cornish College Cornish College is a 100 acre private coeducational school in Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous c ...

and

Gary Austin Gary Austin (born Gary Moore; October 18, 1941 – April 1, 2017) was an American improvisational theatre teacher, writer, and director who founded The Groundlings theatre company in 1974. Early life Austin grew up in the Nazarene Church and in ...

's Second Stage Theatre in Seattle, growing in attendance and budget each season. By 1978, Intiman called itself "Seattle's Classic Theatre" and featured a resident company of fourteen actors, including Megan Cole, Clayton Corzatte, Ted D'Arms, John Gilbert, Patricia Healy, Richard Riele, Peter Silbert, Meg Hilton, Barry Mulholland, and Jean Smart. In 1977, Intiman opened year-round administrative offices in Pioneer Square and hired Simon Siegl as its first general manager. With a season of five classic plays, Intiman also began a parallel program "New Plays Onstage", staged readings of contemporary works directed and performed by members of the ensemble. Over the next several years, Intiman was awarded institutional status by the

King County King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 12th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle ...

and Washington State Arts Commissions and received an NEA challenge grant. After a three-year planning process Intiman participated in the 1982 Scandinavia Today, an international exposition of

Nordic Nordic most commonly refers to: * Nordic countries, the northern European countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and their North Atlantic territories * Scandinavia, a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern ...

culture, which took place in five American cities. Intiman presented staged readings of five contemporary works and two great classics on its main stage: ''

The Wild Duck ''The Wild Duck'' (original Norwegian title: ''Vildanden'') is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It explores the complexities of truth and illusion through the story of a family torn apart by secrets and the intrusion of a ...

'' and ''

A Dream Play ''A Dream Play'' (), sometimes staged in English as ''The Dream Play'', is a fantasy play in 14 scenes written in 1901 by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg. It was published in Swedish in 1902 and first performed in Stockholm on 17 April ...

'', in collaboration with top

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n directors, designers and playwrights. Meanwhile, Second Stage, Intiman's venue for nine theatrical seasons, faced demolition to make way for the

Washington State Convention Center The Seattle Convention Center (SCC), formerly the Washington State Convention Center (WSCC), is a convention center in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It consists of two buildings in Downtown Seattle with exhibition hall ...

. For several years, Intiman, unlike any other professional resident theatre in the area, operated without a permanent home. Under the continued leadership of Booker and Siegl, Intiman rented various performance venues around the city on a short term, basis, including Broadway Performance Hall on the campus of

Seattle Central Community College Seattle Central College is a public college in Seattle, Washington, United States. With North Seattle College and South Seattle College, it is one of the three colleges that comprise the Seattle Colleges District. The college has a substant ...

. This picture changed radically after 1985, when Peter Davis came aboard as Intiman's first managing director. Davis—a former scenic designer who had worked for both Intiman and

Seattle Repertory Theatre Seattle Rep (Seattle Repertory Theatre) is a major regional theater located in Seattle, Washington, at the Seattle Center. Founded in 1963, it is led by Artistic Director Dámaso Rodríguez and Managing Director Jeffrey Herrmann.Seattle Center The Seattle Center is an entertainment, education, tourism and performing arts center located in the Lower Queen Anne, Seattle, Lower Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. Constructed for the Century 21 Exposition, 1962 W ...

. That facility, the Seattle Center Playhouse (later Intiman Playhouse and later Cornish Playhouse) had been built for the

Century 21 Exposition The Century 21 Exposition (also known as the Seattle World's Fair) was a world's fair held April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962, in Seattle, Washington, United States.World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

), and had then served as the original home of the Seattle Repertory Theatre. In 1982, the Rep had moved to a new facility elsewhere on the Seattle Center grounds.Paula Becker
Intiman Theatre inaugurates its new home, the Playhouse Theatre, at the Seattle Center, on June 10, 1987
HistoryLink, September 21, 2006. Accessed online 2009-11-06. Intiman received a 22-year lease from the city. After a US$1.2 million renovation, in 1987, for the first time in its history, Intiman had a single facility with performance, rehearsal, production, shop and administrative areas. As it moved into its new facility, Intiman hired a new artistic director, Elizabeth Huddle, who served for the next six years, succeeded in 1993 by Warner Shook. In 1994, Intiman became the first regional theatre company in the country to be awarded the rights to produce

Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Among his stage work, he is most known for ''Angels in America'', which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, as well as its subsequent acclaime ...

- and

Pulitzer Pulitzer may refer to: *Joseph Pulitzer, a 19th century media magnate *Pulitzer Prize, an annual U.S. journalism, literary, and music award *Pulitzer (surname) * Pulitzer, Inc., a U.S. newspaper chain *Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-pro ...

-winning two-part epic ''

Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a 1991 American two-part Play (theatre), play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The two parts of the play, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', may be presented separate ...

''. ''Part One: Millennium Approaches'' closed Intiman's 1994 season, and ''Part Two: Perestroika'' opened the 1995 season. Directed by Shook, the complete ''Angels in America'' was the most commercially successful production ever to be produced at the theatre, reaching more than 63,000 attendees over its two-year run. Over the next decade, Intiman produced plays by such provocative and influential American writers as

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), ''The Sandbox (play), The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), ''A Delicat ...

Moisés Kaufman Moisés Kaufman (born November 21, 1963) is a Venezuelan American theater director, filmmaker, playwright, founder of Tectonic Theater Project based in New York City, and co-founder of Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre. He was awarded the ...

, Ellen McLaughlin,

Terrence McNally Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," M ...

David Rabe David William Rabe (born March 10, 1940) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1972 ('' Sticks and Bones'') and also received Tony Award nominations for Best Play in 1974 ('' In the Boom Boom Room''), ...

Anna Deavere Smith Anna Deavere Smith (born September 18, 1950) is an American actress, playwright, and professor. She is known for her roles as National Security Advisor Dr. Nancy McNally in ''The West Wing'' (2000–06), hospital administrator Gloria Akalitus i ...

Paula Vogel Paula Vogel (born November 16, 1951) is an American playwright. She is known for her provocative explorations of complex social and political issues. Much of her work delves into themes of psychological trauma, abuse, and the complexities of hum ...

, and

Chay Yew Chay Yew () is a playwright and stage director who was born in Singapore. He was artistic director of the Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago from 2011 to 2020. Career Chay Yew's breakthrough work came from his early plays ''Porcelain'' and ' ...

Recent history

* In 2008 Intiman completed a project entitled ''The American Cycle'', a series of five plays written by prominent Americans— four of which were not originally written as plays. They were: #

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'', and a U. ...

's ''

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a three-act play written by American playwright Thornton Wilder in 1938. Described by Edward Albee as "the greatest American play ever written", it presents the fictional American town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 ...

'' (2004) # adapted

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

novel ''

The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...

'' (2005) # adapted Richard Wright novel ''

Native Son Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

'' (2006) # adapted

Harper Lee Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926 – February 19, 2016) was an American novelist whose 1960 novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and became a classic of modern American literature. She assisted her close friend Truman ...

novel ''

To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a 1960 Southern Gothic novel by American author Harper Lee. It became instantly successful after its release; in the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' ...

'' (2007), and # adapted

Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren (April 24, 1905 – September 15, 1989) was an American poet, novelist, literary critic and professor at Yale University. He was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern ...

novel ''

All the King's Men ''All the King's Men'' is a 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. The novel tells the story of charismatic populist governor Willie Stark and his political machinations in the Depression-era Deep South. It was inspired by the real-life story of U. ...

'' (2008) * A new project, ''The New American Cycle'', began in 2009 with

Robert E. Sherwood Robert Emmet Sherwood (April 4, 1896 – November 14, 1955) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He is the author of ''Waterloo Bridge, Idiot's Delight, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, There Shall Be No Night'', and ''The Best Years of Our Li ...

's '' Abe Lincoln in Illinois''. * During 2008–2010 Intiman was transitioning from one group of leaders to the next. Laura Penn departed as managing director in March, 2008. Her replacement, Brian Colburn, officially started in November, 2008 but did not move to Seattle until early 2009. Colburn resigned Nov. 1, 2010.

Kate Whoriskey Kate Whoriskey (born 1970)
by Misha Berson, Seattle Times, September 4, 2010 is a freelance th ...

succeeded

as artistic director in 2010. Originally the plan was for them to jointly manage the first season of the transition, but that changed when Mr. Sher departed in March, 2010. * In November, 2010 the Intiman had found that the theatre was $2.3 million in debt and had begun a fundraising effort to pay overdue expenses and reduce debt. On April 16, 2011, the board of trustees voted to temporarily close the Intiman Theatre and lay off the entire staff, including Artistic Director Kate Whoriskey. The board engaged Susan Trapnell, a consultant, to advise it on a plan to reopen the theatre in 2012."Prestige Can’t Halt Downfall of Theater"
by Kate Taylor, New York Times, May 18, 2011 * On August 5, 2011, the first performance of Seattle Theatresports took place, the show having previously been performed in the Gum Wall Theatre in Pike Place Market. * The 2013 Summer Festival featured productions of: (1) "Trouble in Mind" by

Alice Childress Alice Childress (October 12, 1916 – August 14, 1994) was an American novelist, playwright, and actress, acknowledged as "the only African-American woman to have written, produced, and published plays for four decades." Mary Helen Washington"Al ...

; (2) " We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay!" by

Dario Fo Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. ...

; "(3)

Lysistrata ''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', ) is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's mission to end the Peloponnesian War between Greek city ...

" by

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

; and (4) "STU For Silverton", a new musical about Stu Rasmussen, American's first known

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

mayor. * The 2016 Summer Festival featured productions of: (1) "Stick Fly" by Lydia R. Diamond; (2) "Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White" by Alice Childress. * The 2017 Summer Festival featured productions of: (1) "Barbecue" by Robert O'Hara; (2) "Dragon Lady", a new musical by Sara Porkalob.

Notable Intiman artists

– former artistic director, 2000–2010 *

– Associate Artistic Director *

– Actor *

Stacy Keach Walter Stacy Keach Jr. (born June 2, 1941) is an American actor, active in theatre, film and television since the 1960s. Keach first distinguished himself in Off-Broadway productions and remains a prominent figure in American theatre across his ...

– Actor *

Reiko Aylesworth Reiko M. Aylesworth (born December 9, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for playing Michelle Dessler in the action television series '' 24''. Early life, career start Aylesworth was born December 9, 1972, in Evanston, Illinois, and is ...

– Actor *

John Aylward John Aylward (November 7, 1946 – May 16, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for playing the former DNC chairman Barry Goodwin on the NBC television series ''The West Wing'' and for playing Dr. Donald Anspaugh on the NBC televisio ...

– Actor *

Patti Cohenour Patti Cohenour (born October 17, 1952) is an American actress and singer. She last performed as the standby for Elizabeth Arden in the Broadway musical '' War Paint'', a position she also held in the pre Broadway run. Previously she was seen in the ...

– Actor * Laurence Ballard – Actor *

Jeanne Paulson Jeanne Paulsen is an American, Tony Award-nominated actress. She has appeared extensively at the Intiman Theatre where she has appeared in ''Aristocrats'', ''Faith Healer'', ''Angels in America'', '' The Little Foxes'', ''The Last Night of Bally ...

– Actor *

Jean Smart Jean Elizabeth Smart (born September 13, 1951) is an American actress. Jean Smart filmography, Her work includes both comedy and drama, and List of awards and nominations received by Jean Smart, her accolades include six Primetime Emmy Awards a ...

- Actor

References

External links

* * {{coord, 47, 37, 27.49, N, 122, 21, 8.79, W, region:US, display=title 1972 establishments in Washington (state) Buildings and structures in Seattle Culture of Seattle Seattle Center Theatre companies in Washington (state) Theatres in Washington (state) Tony Award winners Regional theatre in the United States Tourist attractions in Seattle Festivals established in 1972