Monica Hayes

Professor

B.A., Northern Illinois University
M.F.A., Illinois State University

Monica Hayes is a member of the Actors Equity Association and a former member of British Actors Equity Foreign Entertainers Unit. In the United States, she has worked professionally in many cities including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and New Orleans. She also has "played in Peoria," her hometown. Her work includes extensive theatre work in acting, directing, assistant directing, and producing as well as excursions into film, television, industrials, and voiceovers.

In Great Britain, Hayes has worked in London's West End (at the Comedy and the Vaudeville), Off-West End (at the Hampstead and the King's Head) and Fringe (Etcetera) in productions that earned a Time Out Award, a Charringdon Fringe Award, and a nomination for the Evening Standard Comedy Award. Her work also includes six years at the International Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest theatre festival. These productions earned a 28-city British Tour, Hit List and Critic's Choice recognition as well as three Fringe First Awards, the Festival's highest honor.

Hayes earned a Bachelor of Arts in acting and directing from Northern Illinois University and a Master of Fine Arts in acting from Illinois State University. Hayes has studied with artistic associates of the Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare & Company, and with famous teachers Uta Hagen and Patrick Tucker. She is Head of Acting at the University of Southern Mississippi. Her students have been finalists in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival’s Irene Ryan Acting Competition at both the regional and national levels.