Phil Hayes is a performance maker, theatre director, actor and musician. He was born on the south coast of England and studied Creative Arts in Newcastle upon Tyne many years ago. Based in Zurich since 1998 , Phil has spent most of this time creating theatre and performance work mainly through the non-profit association First Cut Productions, including: ‘Awkward Human’, ‘Legends & Rumours’, ‘Love & Happiness’, ‘Places Of Interest’, ‘These Are My Principles...’, ‘WORK’ and ‘Under The Influence I – III’. In Hayes performance work, the collaborative process is generally the basis for the development of content and form, together with a range of new and regular collaborators. His work has regularly toured internationally. Hayes also creates performance-based works in other contexts and works as a freelance performer, director, consultant, dramaturg, writer or musician with a wide range of artists and groups. He was a regular collaborator with the British performance group Forced Entertainment (2009–2016) and has worked on several projects with performance artist and choreographer Simone Aughterlony. Phil has also appeared in several films, including Angela Schanelec’s ‘Der traumhafte Weg’ (2016) and ‘Bagger Drama’ (2024) by Piet Baumgartner. For the latter, Phil Hayes was awarded the Swiss Film Prize 2026 for Best Actor. Phil Hayes has been working at the Gessnerallee since 2003.
www.philhayes.ch
www.thefirstcut.ch