AARON MAYS is an award-winning theatre artist based in Chicago, working as a stage director and playwright. His latest play, Black Santa, received its world premiere at the 2024 Obsidian Theatre Festival in Detroit, and it received its Southeast premiere in Miami in December 2024. His other plays include Sticks and Stones, Hush Hush, and an adaptation of A Christmas Carol, which was commissioned by South Bend Civic Theatre. Aaron also adapted The Legend of Sleepy Hollow into a radio play, which aired on Buffalo’s NPR station in conjunction with the University at Buffalo’s Department of Theatre and Dance.
Aaron’s directing credits include American Son (Ujima Theatre Company), Twisted Tales of Poe (AstonRep Theatre), Gem of the Ocean (South Bend Civic Theatre), 2×2 (Haven), Waiting for Godot with an all-Latinx cast (Tympanic Theatre), and Tug of War (CIRCA Pintig), a series of short plays on war, trauma, and immigration. In 2022, he won two Artie Awards, presented by Buffalo Toronto Public Media, for his direction of American Son: Outstanding Production of a Play and the Katharine Cornell Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Visiting Artist.
Bio as of 7/2025