Her name is Kate Whoriskey. She directed and helped develop this year's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Ruined. And she seems every bit as bright, articulate, and feisty as her predecessor and forefather, the Tony Award magnet Bart Sher.

I went to Intiman yesterday to interview them both, and they were perfect foils, politely interrupting and disagreeing with each other as often as they complimented each other.

More to come—what Whoriskey thinks about Sher (loves), Seattle (cares more about art than geography), and the future of Intiman (weirder and more interesting than you expect).

And while it isn't polite to discuss a lady's age, in this case it's germane. When Intiman announced they'd found an exciting young artistic director, performer Mike Daisey wrote in Slog comments: "In the American theater, saying someone is an exciting young director is no guarantee that they're under 40."

True enough. In a limping, maimed industry with a graying audience, leaders falling into their dotage without heirs, and no small panic about where to find young blood and fresh ideas, it's worth noting that Whoriskey is 38.

Also worth noting: She directed at Intiman in Sher's first season—Ionesco's Chairs—before Sher had even directed at Intiman. A few years later at Intiman, she directed Blue/Orange—an play about two competitive, white psychiatrists trying to decide whether a poor black man really is the son of Idi Amin. It's a tight, burning little drama (about race, about psychiatry, about ambition and aggression) and one of my favorite Intiman productions ever.

Whoriskey is an intriguing and surprising choice. She's an artist, not an administrator. Seattle should be glad Intiman has made such a bold move. Exciting things are going to happen—for good or ill, none can say.

But exciting.