Andy Bayiates is a Chicago-based playwright, storyteller and former contributing writer for Time Out Chicago.
Andy wrote and performed in the ever-changing Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind (30 Plays in 60 Minutes) through 2004, also appearing in seven other Neo-Futurist productions, including 43 Plays for 43 Presidents and the gratifying hit, Daredevils! (as writer/performer.) His plays have been produced at theaters and schools throughout the United States, including The Actor’s Theater of Louisville, Dad’s Garage in Atlanta, and Forward Theater Company in Madison. A 60-Minute History of Humankind, mounted in 2003, appeared briefly on the NBC reality TV show Starting Over. His play, A History of Human Stupidity, received its world-premiere production by Rough & Tumble of Berkeley, CA in 2010, and was previewed in American Theatre Magazine. In 2012, Andy founded and directed the Plays for Presidents Festival, a record-setting and successful attempt to unite 44 separate productions of (the retitled and updated) 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, to coincide with the presidential election. The professional and school productions reached 20,000 audience members, involved 1,600 theatre artists, and distributed 13,000 voter registration forms.
Andy is the voice of Trip in the award-winning, interactive drama, Facade. He occasionally writes and reads stories about his life for the likes of 2nd Story, Essay Fiesta, Paper Machete and The Encyclopedia Show.
Andy is currently collaborating with composer and fellow Neo-Futurist alumnus, Jonathan Mastro, on his first musical, entitled 33. He enjoys an ongoing and extremely gratifying collaboration with his lovely and amazing wife and former Neo-Futurist, Genevra Gallo-Bayiates. They live in Evanston with their daughter, Ariana, and their two dogs, Zoe and Simon.