The Atlanta Shakespeare Company is dealing with offstage drama worthy of The Bard himself.

In a frantic e-mail to 8,000 subscribers this week, Atlanta Shakespeare Company artistic director Jeff Watkins disclosed that the downtown theater company’s revenues are down $213,000 and that it needs to raise a quick $10,000 in order to keep the nonprofit “alive and well.”

To further emphasize the point, the e-mail contained a photo of Watkins dramatically grabbing for the end of a length of rope.

“I’m used to doing my suffering in silence,” Watkins told Buzz Friday. “It’s not my nature to send out an e-mail like this. But the bottom line is, I didn’t have much choice.”

Like countless others waging battle with the economic downturn, the 25-year-old theater company is caught in the current credit drought. Watkins said the theater’s American Express credit line was closed without notification. Watkins discovered that financial fact only after a $10,000 check bounced this month.

Watkins is especially frustrated because last year the company, housed inside The New American Shakespeare Tavern on Peachtree Street, brought in more than $1 million in earned income.

“You just can’t run a million dollar business without carrying some debt,” Watkins said.

But last fall, Watkins noticed school field trip bookings, a lifeblood for the Shakespearean center, suddenly slowed to a trickle.

“Everything constricted,” he explained. “Less tax revenue meant slashed school budgets, which trickled down to us.”

Watkins said he’s heartened by the $10, $20 and $50 contributions diehard Bard devotees are currently shelling out via a PayPal link on the company’s www.shakespearetavern.com website.

“The big donations just aren’t there right now,” he said. “It’s the smaller donations that are keeping us afloat.”

He’s optimistic that he’ll meet Tuesday’s looming deadline to pay off past due bills but worries about the upcoming summer season when kids are out of class and theater goers traditionally go on vacation.

Said Watkins: “This fall will be our 20th anniversary on Peachtree Street. I want us to be able to celebrate that and be able to do that with less debt.”

For more info: www.shakespearetavern.com.