Open Letter to the Intiman Board

[Editor's Note: Seattlest's Dramatic Theater team largely consists of practitioners; people who have gotten their hands dirty in the process of creating the art we have the privilege to talk about. Though not part of the theater beat, Jim Jewell is no exception. In the past he has served as a playwright, an occasional performer, and has spent a good amount of time in the Administrative end of Theater; specifically, in Marketing and PR at Seattle Rep, Book-It, 14/48 - the world’s quickest theatre festival, Seattle International Children’s Festival, Shunpike and numerous individual artists. The concern and attention which is behind the writing of this letter is one that we share. - ed.]

In the past 18 months, I’ve made some attempts to engage the community discussion around theatre, most notably through the Local Playwright Initiative and the marketing discussion group Holes Not Drills. Ours is a difficult, sometimes insular, often tribal community, and we need to have some frank discussions.

Brendan Kiley’s article about Intiman was a great place to start, and he is absolutely right about too few of us going on the record with what we believe. So, I’m going on the record about what I hope to see from Intiman’s board.

Open Letter to Susan Trapnell and the Board of Intiman Theatre

I don’t envy your position. You find yourself stewards of a troubled organization, and have the eyes of an entire community on you.

But, for all of the difficulties facing Intiman, you have also been presented a unique opportunity. While every other theatre in town, and really in the country, tries to figure out how to make difficult transitions, shifting the earned/contributed income balance and trying to break from the failing subscription model, you have a blank slate. Your only mission is a basic need - the sustenance of the art.

This is not the time to try to fix a broken model, but to take the pieces you have and build something new. It isn’t enough to be stewards; a steward could easily work in hospice. We need you to be shepherds, to lead, and to be willing to follow the rich flock of artistic talent in Seattle.

I’d like to offer just a few suggested guiding principles as you consider the fate of Intiman. I can neither claim these as my own nor attach anyone else’s name - they come from many years working in large and small theatre settings and numerous discussions with colleagues.

Don’t fix what is broken. Replace it.
The worst-kept secret in non-profit theatre is the failure of the subscription model. Only slightly better-kept is the failure of its sister-cousin, the season. Artistic Directors talk about the limits and demands that turn crafting a season into an exercise in the lowest common denominator. One failed model driving the failure of another. It’s time both were abandoned.

You have the opportunity to instead consider a fluid, ongoing calendar, one mainstage production every month, or every six weeks, scheduled as far out as contracts can be signed. And it is beyond time that we accept that the membership model, while yet to be perfected, offers the most potential value to audiences and organizations alike.

This asks that Intiman imagine itself as both production company and venue manager, but in doing so opens up opportunities for diverse programming and fruitful partnerships.

Programming and Partnerships
A traditional theatre company produces a season, but the kind of theatrical production company I am asking you to consider is continuously filling a calendar. A portion of that calendar should be work directly produced by the production company, but in the dual role of curator and venue manager the company can develop partnerships that produce easily 50% of the calendar content. Look at the potential of approaching organizations like New Century Theatre Company and 14/48 and asking them to be resident in your space for two years; between them, you would have 18 weeks of programming, bringing with them already committed audiences.

Beyond the mainstage, there is great potential benefit in becoming a creative venue manager, utilizing every possible space to bring in art and artists of every discipline. Interactive, location-based theatre in the lobby, a concert series in the courtyard, readings in rehearsal spaces.

This break from the confines of a season into an ongoing process also allows every individual effort, whether produced in-house or in-partnership, to be examined in isolation, considered on its own artistic and financial merits. Because any new model absolutely must be anchored in metrics and accountability.

Metrics and Accountability
These must be given priority if arts institutions are to re-build trust with constituents and if artists are going to engage in honest dialogue with audiences. It demands that we recognize and learn from failure without fear, which is something arts organizations have been largely unable to do until it is too late.

We need to apply metrics to every effort, both before and after production. And no one metric should be given priority, but all must have a voice. Financials and artistic vision and community value have to be honestly considered, in dialogue and argument with one another. But, more than anything, individuals and organizations must be as openly accountable to every failure as they are to every success, because Intiman and all arts organizations have to build greater trust with the local community.

Relentless Localism
Theatre is an art form grounded in time and place, and it is beyond time for Seattle theatre to embrace that truth. Intiman has the opportunity to brand itself as Seattle’s Playhouse and to execute this branding across multiple levels. Hire and source locally. Find and tell stories that matter to people that live in this time and this place right now, and engage in constant dialogue with those people to find out what those stories are. Develop partnerships that invite businesses and individual artists and community organizations to invest in Intiman’s future by intertwining it with their own. Create a commonplace.

Times are tough all over, and particularly for non-profits. But now is not the time to play it safe. If you want safe, then you and I know what the answer is - shut it down. Close up shop and make way for whatever is going to come next.

I offer instead the opportunity to create something new. To accept the greater challenge and pursue the greater reward. Because if you do, I can promise that we’re behind you.