William Hayes, Producing Artistic Director
William Hayes is the Producing Artistic Director and a co-founder of PBD. He has directed some 50 productions for the company; his credits run the gamut of playwrights from A (Edward Albee) to Z (Paul Zindel), and include William Inge, Eugène Ionesco, David Mamet, Eugene O’Neill, Tennessee Williams, and August Wilson. A short list of world premiere productions he’s directed includes Jenny Connell Davis' The Messenger, Michael McKeever's The People Downstairs, Joseph McDonough's Ordinary Americans, and Terry Teachout's Billy and Me. Bill is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Florida Professional Theatre Association’s Richard G. Fallon Award for Excellence in Professional Theatre (2017); a Silver Palm Award presented by the South Florida Theatre League “for his outstanding work as Producing Artistic Director” of PBD (2014); and, with Sue Ellen Beryl, the REMY Pioneer Award presented by the South Florida Theatre League (2015), and the George Abbott Award (2025), presented by the Carbonell Awards for outstanding achievement in the arts. Bill served two terms as president of the Florida Professional Theatres Association, and is a national ambassador for the Entertainment Community Fund. He began his career as an actor, and was recently seen in PBD’s acclaimed productions of Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser and Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men.