Page 16 - Abacoa Community News - January '25

Page 16, Abacoa
Celebrating 25 Years Of Palm Beach Dramaworks

In May 2024, Palm Beach Dramaworks (PBD) was
honored as Nonprofit of the Year by the Chamber of
Commerce of the Palm Beaches. It was an acknowledgement
of the theatre’s contribution to the community; recognition
of the artistry, commitment, and leadership of its
cofounders, Producing Artistic Director William Hayes
and Managing Director Sue Ellen Beryl; and the perfect
prelude to the company’s 25th anniversary season, which
opened on November 1.
It’s been a remarkable journey. PBD launched in
December 2000: the company had no backers, no money,
and no clear vision of what the theatre should be. Hayes
knew he wanted to produce work that would challenge important part of that mix are works by the
and move audiences and illuminate the human condition, and likes of Edward Albee, Eugène Ionesco, and
he believed there were local audiences hungry for that type Jean-Paul Sartre, playwrights who pushed
of fare. But what that meant in terms of play selection was the envelope. They were risky choices early Michael Zeff, Rudina Toro, Bill Hayes, Sue Ellen Beryl, Congresswoman Lois
unformulated. Beryl borrowed $10,000 from an employer, and on when the theatre was trying to establish Frankel, Mayor Keith James, Rep. Kelly Skidmore
PBD rented an old, soon-to-be demolished 200-seat theatre at itself. But their plays helped develop PBD’s
Palm Beach Atlantic University, where it produced three shows reputation and grow its audience – to the point where the
that first season. company outgrew its theatre.
The company spent the next two seasons at a 45-seat In 2011 – on 11.11.11 – PBD moved into its state-of-the-art,
theatre carved out of an 800-square-foot storefront on 218-seat home on Clematis Street, renovating an old theatre
Clematis Street, before turning office space into an 84-seat to its specifications. The city of West Palm Beach facilitated
theatre on Banyan Boulevard,
which became its home for the
next eight years. It was there
that PBD’s vision came into
sharp focus. They even gave
it a name: Theatre to Think
About.
More than a catch phrase
or a brand, Theatre to Think Chief Financial and Operating Officer Rudina Toro,
About is a guide to the kind of Producing Artistic Director William Hayes and Managing
work PBD has been producing Director Sue Ellen Beryl
for most of its existence. The
company has distinguished the move to what became the Don & Ann Brown Theatre; the
itself with a mixture of classic, city purchased the building on PBD’s behalf and leased it to
contemporary, and world the company, which agreed to purchase it within five years.
premiere plays that take Thanks to generous support from donors, PBD purchased the
audiences on an entertaining venue outright two years earlier than scheduled.
and emotional journey, stir
the imagination, and stimulate Celebrating 25 Years Of Palm Beach Dramaworks
discussion and debate. An Celebrating 25 years with longtime PBD artists on page 17