Welcome to our season
A message from Eric Fraisher Hayes, Artistic Director
Becoming
Artistic Director of RPE represents a coming full circle for me. I grew
up in Danville and first felt the warmth of a stage light at San Ramon
Valley High School. Eventually, I went off to Chicago to study acting
and “to become what I am to become,” as I said at the time. After more
than a decade of working in professional theatre, I came back to the
Bay Area, my home. Since my return to the West Coast, I’ve made new
professional ties and shifted my focus from acting to directing.
In my first season as Artistic Director, I hope to bring all that I’ve
learned working in Chicago theatre to Danville. The core of each show
will be the acting. Nothing is more compelling on stage than dynamic
and complex relationships delivered by talented performers. We will
seek to amuse and enlighten our audiences through the ancient art of
telling a good story. The journey of the human spirit is the greatest
journey of all. I hope you will join us for it.
— Eric Fraisher Hayes
Eric Fraisher Hayes is a director/actor/educator. He directed the West Coast premiere of O’Neill’s All God’s Chillun Got Wings for the 2008 Eugene O’ Neill Festival. This fall he will direct The Hairy Ape for the 2010 Festival. Other directing credits include Holy Names University, St. Mary’s College, Solano College, New Conservatory Theatre, Arc Light Rep and PlayGround. Local acting credits include the Magic, Playhouse West, AlterTheater and the Best of the PlayGround. Chicago acting credits include: Steppenwolf, The Goodman, Next, Circle, Stage Left and Shattered Globe Theatre Company. Eric has spent summers acting with the Colorado and Wisconsin Shakespeare Festivals. He teaches acting for Solano College and California Shakespeare Theater. Eric is most proud of his contributions to animated anger management series Pepys Steeps.
