The answering machine at the Empty Space Theatre recently took on a decidedly dramatic tone. "The Empty Space board of directors has decided to institute an immediate hiatus of operations in light of current financial issues," the message says. While the 35th season's opening show, Frankenocchio, will finish its run (slated to end October 16), most of the staff is currently on unpaid hiatus. The three remaining paid staffers "will be concentrating on supporting fundraising efforts," the message adds.

The theater is trying to raise $300,000 to pay off what artistic director Allison Narver says is "old and new" debt, including expenses incurred during a 2001 move that coincided with the drop-off in funding experienced by many nonprofits in the wake of 9/11. Narver says the theater responded by trimming its budget, and the board hoped to pay off the debt gradually with budget surpluses (though strangely, Narver told The Stranger's Brendan Kiley in April that "we've retired our debt and are ending the [season] in the black"--a comment that puzzled other Empty Space staffers, who were well aware of the theater's ongoing financial struggle.) "The Empty Space board made the decision to open the 35th season with hope that we would be able to make strides toward this initiative," Narver says. "Unfortunately, our financial situation, due to low summer income, took a swift turn for the worse and forced the board to make a decision to stop operations immediately... It was a decision that was made in the best interest of the theater and its supporters."

The theater certainly doesn't lack for supporters, even during this financial crisis. Performer Sarah Rudinoff, who was a part of three Empty Space productions last season, sent out an open letter, urging contributions towards the $300,000 goal. Praising Empty Space as a place where performers, writers, and designers "step into a project and [are] led by their instinct," Rudinoff explains that the city's theater community benefits from the presence of the edgy theater. "Seattle deserves a laboratory for new plays, uncommon directions, and impassioned professionals."

Empty Space has taken risks with controversial programming that the bigger houses (Seattle Rep, ACT Theatre, Intiman) wouldn't touch--the raunchy puppet extravaganza Frankenocchio is one example. The next show on Empty Space's docket, Wallace Shawn's dark and challenging play The Designated Mourner, was already in production when word of the theater's suspension of operations came through. New City Theater is presently in negotiations to present the show in its Georgetown warehouse. Plans are also in the works for an Empty Space benefit in the Fremont space soon. Rudinoff remains hopeful about the theater's prospects: "I am betting that people still want to pay for the unknown."

Additional reporting by Bret Fetzer.

Brendan Kiley is on vacation. He'll be back in two weeks.