Nike Imoru is resigning

By the end of December, Nike Imoru will leave her post as artistic director of Spokane Interplayers Ensemble, says Carol Shore, who works in group sales for the theater.

One immediate effect is that The Fantasticks, scheduled for Dec. 1-17, will be directed not by Imoru but by another locally prominent director long associated with the theater.

Imoru is obviously leaving on friendly terms: She's staying in Spokane, and executive director Mary Ann McCurdy is quoted on the Spokesman-Review's Web page saying that she hopes that Imoru might return as a guest director a couple of times a year.

Bobo had predicted privately -- and hoped he was wrong - that Imoru would only stay one full season at Interplayers before moving on to other assignments. Well, we only had her as official A.D. for not quite one and a half seasons. It's a loss to the Spokane theatrical community: Nike is a gentle, creative soul and an accomplished theater artist.

Asked for a reaction -- and specifically about how Imoru's resignation might affect the rumored "merger" of Actors Rep and Interplayers (if at all) -- Grant Smith of ARt had this to say: "Nike is a wonderful world-class artist, and we are fortunate to keep her in Spokane. Michael [Weaver] and I look forward to seeing future projects that she helms."