Interplayers Theatre gets back on track

After a period in which its future looked to be in jeopardy, Interplayers Theatre is again back on its feet and open for business.

In April, Interplayers’ artistic director Reed McColm projected that the theater needed to raise upwards of $150,000 by June in order to stay afloat.

But after raising $103,000 in pledges, as well as pro bono legal work that covered the $20,000 needed to clear McColm’s U.S. visa issues, Interplayers announced this week that the theater is on course to meet its financial goal and that its 33rd season will begin as scheduled in September.

“We’ve done a lot of work and have had a lot of hard conversations,” McColm said, “but we think we’ve found a way to make professional theater work in Spokane. We’re quite confident we’re on the right track.”

Interplayers’ upcoming season features an eclectic mix of shows, including Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Putting It Together” and Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

The theater will also remain open during the summer months, with a visiting troupe from the New York City Fringe Festival performing a trio of shows, including “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised],” as well as the August premiere of the acclaimed musical comedy “Church Basement Ladies.”

McColm said he owes Interplayers’ continued success to the enthusiasm of the community, along with assistance from his board of directors and the theater’s executive director, Pamela Brown.

“It was extraordinary how much people supported us and wanted us to be here,” McColm said. “I feel confident and optimistic for the first time in a long time.”