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 |   |  the hayes project  

The four events of The Hayes Project might seem unrelated at first.
But they're not.

I took the creation and evolution of a play through some winding steps from reading to final production.

The Project began in December with an open reading of the script for IF I HAD MY WAY.

It took a right angle into spoken word/jazz improvisation for JAZZ SPOKEN HERE in January, with myself and the jazz trio La Lucha exploring the rhythms behind the words.

In May, THE MOCKINGBIRD NEWS , a one-person show with live percussion that examines the path of stories, fables and lies in 5 short acts, marked my return to Orlando Fringe for my 20th anniversary as a playwright.

Finally, everything learned from those events fed back to IF I HAD MY WAY, with a full production in June, 2022. Looking at the evolution of a play from seemingly unrelated angles is probably not something audiences or would-be playwrights would consider, and the addition of musical elements in decidedly non-musical plays often sparks new ideas for creating new works.

Set in 1945 Florida, where the realities of WWII and its drain on local manpower meant a shortage of workers on local farms, a shortage addressed by the US Army by "lending" residents of area POW camps to fill the gap - Kissimmee Air Base was developed as an Italian detainee camp and became such a part of local community that POWs would often be seen shopping in downtown Kissimmee and even going to the movies. The play touches on the shared experiences of farm help, the children of enslavement (in its many forms) and people, often forced into warfare, who find themselves captured, put on ships and told to work during the day and live behind barbed wire at night.

THE SHOWS

  • IF I HAD MY WAY
    STAGED READING DECEMBER 2021

    The illogical logic of relationships and the threats of bigotry in wartime in a small citrus town in 1940s Florida.
    Florida, 1945. A young woman, educated in the North, reluctantly returns to her childhood home to care for her ailing mother. Finding herself in the same citrus farm kitchen that her mother toiled in all her life, she resents every aspect of her situation, rejecting friendship and suitors, until her abrasive and bitter attitude is broken by a person she considered invisible; the Italian POW brought to the ranch as replacement help.

  • JAZZ SPOKEN HERE
    JANUARY 2022

    Returning to the Timucua Arts stage with jazz phenoms La Lucha

    In the grand tradition of previous Joseph Hayes/La Lucha collaborations, improvised jazz meets unrevealed spoken word, where the destination of the performance is unknown until we get there. JAZZ SPOKEN HERE highlights new music by Alejandro Arenas, Mark Feinman and John O'Leary, with words written by Joseph Reed Hayes for The Hayes Project and more. Bassist Alejandro Arenas, drummer Mark Feinman and pianist John O’Leary tour and perform at jazz festivals around the world as La Lucha, creating music which transcends genres and classifications. These artists create a one-of-a-kind, one night only theatrical improvisational jazz experience for their 10th collaboration.

  • THE MOCKINGBIRD NEWS
    ORLANDO INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL MAY 2022

    Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the first Hayes production at Orlando Fringe with a new play. Stories, fables and lies, accompanied by improvised percussion. An anthology of connected short scenes, with five different aspects of the same person. 

    The Mockingbird News wins Orlando Fringe Festival’s 2022 Critics' Choice Awards for BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE — DRAMA: Sarah Lockard; and BEST DIRECTOR: Leesa Halstead Castañeda

  • IF I HAD MY WAY
    FULL Production JUNE 2022

    The first full production of a new work about life in 1940s Florida.

    Florida, 1945. A young woman, educated in the North, reluctantly returns to her childhood home to care for her ailing mother. Finding herself in the same citrus farm kitchen that her mother toiled in all her life, she resents every aspect of her situation, rejecting friendship and suitors, until her abrasive and bitter attitude is broken by a person she considered invisible; the Italian POW brought to the ranch as replacement help. Steeped in the blues and based on little-known Central Florida history about Italian POW camps in the Orlando/Kissimmee area.
"One of Orlando’s most prolific playwrights." - Orlando Weekly






ABOUT
JOSEPH REED HAYES

Celebrating 20 years of writing and producing theater, Joseph Reed Hayes has had 50 productions and readings of his work across the US, Canada and the United Kingdom. He’s also a jazz producer, whose Jazz on Edge series encourages the performance of original music; and as a performance artist has read his words on stages in New York, Orlando, the UK and Italy.
He has been a 2021 winner of Florida Division of Arts & Culture Specific Cultural Project Grant (and the only winner in Orange County) and 2011 Individual Artist Fellowship; two-time winner of a United Arts of Central Florida Professional Development Grant; a Telly Award winner for his play, West Farms; and three-time associate artist-in-residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. As founder of Timucua's Word Play series, he presented more than a dozen language-based events by local and national wordsmiths.
"A fascinating mix of contemporary issues about class, race, circumstance and relationships against a uniquely Florida historical background." ~ Matt Palm, Orlando Sentinel
The Hayes Project is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts & Culture and the Florida Council on Arts & Culture

Special thanks to:
This project is funded in part by Orange County Government, Arts & Cultural Affairs Program, through United Arts of Central Florida

Special thanks to
Orlando Science Center
Jennifer Greenhill-Taylor
Cornelius Eady
Douglas Coupland

CONTACT ME


freelance writer

As a writer on assignment, I've traveled to Italy, Scotland, England, New Orleans, California and New York City, with a specialty on all things Orlando. Whether it's a story about Arts & Crafts houses in Florida or new styles in computers, a Mounted Police squad or alien abduction insurance, I've written it. Environmental issues, music, movie and theater reviews and in-depth conversations with legends in jazz. Interviews and personality profiles are my specialty.

playwright

58 productions and readings of my plays from coast to coast and in three countries; creator of House Theater Project and the year-long 13in13 series of shows. My plays take place on buses and in bars, in hotel rooms and government offices, farmhouse kitchens and jazz stages.

"Best local playwright: Joseph Hayes" - Orlando Sentinel

food writer

Florida Magazine Association Award winning food writer and Orlando restaurant critic. James Beard Foundation judge, knowledgable champion of world cuisine and avid advocate of undiscovered chefs.

EVENT producer

Producer of the Jazz On Edge series, spotlighting new and original jazz from Central Florida since 2008, showcasing the best that Central Florida has to offer in jazz to appreciative audiences, giving creative hometown and nationally-known musicians a place to perform their own music, without boundaries, in person and online. Founder Word Play series, former Chair of Alternative Programming, Timucua Arts Foundation.