So Seattle’s ACT theatre is on the verge of going out of business. The theatre declared a life-and-death emegergency, then gave itself a little breathing room when board members ponied up some operating money. Roger Downey isn’t impressed. “Why was the theatre’s board so ignorant of the organization’s precarious financial situation? Many Seattle arts groups seem headed down this same path – ACT is just the first. Why do we let it happen? “It’s entirely in keeping with the way arts groups, in Seattle and elsewhere in this country, are governed and financed. The system is rickety even in good times, and bad times expose its shortcomings cruelly.”