Whoriskey's departure comes on the heals of the Intiman board of trustees' April 18 announcement that it had canceled the remainder of its 2011 season and would shut its doors in the face of mounting financial difficulties. The Tony-winning theatre also laid off its staff due to financial limitations.

Whoriskey, whose last New York stage projects were the short-lived Broadway revival of The Miracle Worker and the Pulitzer Prize-winning hit Ruined, was selected by Tony Award-winning director Barlett Sher (South Pacific, The Light in the Piazza) as his successor. Sher departed the Intiman in spring 2010 to become the resident director of Lincoln Center Theater.

"I've never been in a position where I've had to tell so many people that they don’t have work, and it's very hard," Whoriskey told the Times. She indicated that she would be open to returning to the company in the future.

Susan Trapnell, of the arts consulting firm Arts Consulting Group, Inc., who is serving as the Intiman's management consultant, said, "There's no reason for Kate right now to sacrifice a career to bringing this theatre back, unless she knows the theatre is trying to come back, or sees a way to come back."

The organization went public with its $1 million financial crisis in February. It was revealed that the Intiman would need to raise $500,000 by the end of March, in addition to $250,000 by June and another quarter of a million by September in order to continue operations. Despite encouraging fundraising and support from the community, the Intiman has been unable to raise enough capital to continue operations. The board hopes to raise the curtain at the Intiman in 2012.

The Intiman staged the world premieres of The Kentucky Cycle and The Light in the Piazza. It was also the first regional company to stage Tony Kushner's two-part epic Angels in America, after its Broadway debut.