Claron Hayden

Claron Hayden is a SAG-AFTRA actor, musician, composer, writer, and producer whose career defies the boundaries of any single discipline. Born in London, England and now based in New York City, Claron Hayden has spent over a decade building a body of work that spans Off-Broadway theater, independent film, original music, and literary fiction. He holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) — one of the most competitive conservatory programs in the United States — and completed intensive training in devised theater and physical performance with SITI Company and Theater Mitu, two of New York's most innovative experimental ensembles. That rigorous classical and avant-garde foundation is what allows Claron Hayden to move fluidly between the stage, the recording studio, and the written page.

Hit The Lights! Theater Co.

As co-founder and co-artistic director of Hit The Lights! Theater Co., Claron Hayden has helped build one of New York's most acclaimed multidisciplinary ensemble companies. Based in Astoria, Queens, Hit The Lights! creates hand-crafted, dialogue-light theatrical productions using shadow puppetry, flashlights, overhead projectors, original live music, and immersive techniques that transform ordinary materials into extraordinary storytelling. The company's production WHALES — a shadow play inspired by punk rock and Moby-Dick — earned three New York Innovative Theatre Award nominations including Outstanding Original Music, Outstanding Innovative Design, and Outstanding Premiere Production of a Play. Their family show Taste the Clouds received an Off-Broadway Alliance Award nomination for Best Family Show. DUNGEON won Audience Pick at Cincinnati Fringe and Editors' Pick at Minnesota Fringe. Their production ISLA, which premiered at the New Ohio Theatre in 2022, blended shadow puppetry, poetry, an original live score, and documentary audio interviews to investigate the realities of political refugees through Cuban mythology and magical realism. Claron Hayden has performed with Hit The Lights! at venues including Ars Nova, La Mama, Little Island, Dixon Place, NYC Children's Theater, The PIT, Know Theatre Cincinnati, and the New York Botanical Garden, as well as internationally at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Music, Film, and Stage

Beyond theater, Claron Hayden is a prolific musician and songwriter. He co-founded 9th Path Productions, an independent record label and production company, with collaborator Matt Wills. Under his own name, Claron Hayden released the full-length album NO TV's in 2017 — a ten-track collection recorded at the 9th Path Productions Queen City Studio featuring songs like Chicago Gargoyle, Formerly Greenwich, Crowd Control, and Brooklyn Wine. Chicago Gargoyle has been streamed across the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Claron Hayden currently fronts the band K!NG $LUT, bringing the same theatrical intensity he carries on stage into a live music context that blurs the line between concert and performance art. His music is available on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. On screen, Claron Hayden's credits include Fleeting (2016) and Burnt (2013), the latter a short thriller directed by Edy Carreno. He is also known for PITtv (2007). His stage acting credits include Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing, the Marquis De Sade in Marat/Sade, and the regional premiere of Dragon Play — roles that showcase his range from Shakespearean comedy to physical theater to contemporary drama.

The Portrait

This noir-inspired cinematic portrait of Claron Hayden by Chicago photographer Michael Schacht captures the character-driven intensity that defines his artistic presence. Shot in formal attire with a fedora and dramatic side-lighting, the dual-exposure composition evokes classic Hollywood portraiture while nodding to the shadow-play aesthetic that has become Claron Hayden's signature through Hit The Lights! The image was created at Michael Schacht's Fulton Market studio in Chicago — a portrait designed to serve an artist whose work demands a headshot as multifaceted as the career behind it. Currently at work on his debut novel Taking Off The Touch and in pre-production research for Hit The Lights!' upcoming original show SUNK, Claron Hayden remains one of those rare performers who refuses to be boxed into a single medium, building instead a creative life where theater, music, film, and literature exist as a single interconnected practice.