Tonya Beckman

Bio

Tonya is an actor and dialect coach, with a performance emphasis on Shakespeare (over 35 productions), classical comedy, as well as new play development.

She has appeared on stages all over the DC area, including Shakespeare Theatre Company, Kennedy Center, Folger Theatre, Arena Stage, Ford’s Theatre, Round House Theatre, Studio Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Theater J, Mosaic Theatre, 1st Stage, and Solas Nua. Regional credits include the Cleveland Play House, Cincinnati Playhouse, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Center Stage, Fulton Theatre, Totem Pole Playhouse, Public Theatre of Maine, CATCo, Human Race Theatre, and Purple Rose Theatre Company, among others. She is also a company member at Taffety Punk Theatre Company, where she also serves as the literary manager.

Dialect and vocal coaching credits include productions at Theater J, Round House Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, Rep Stage, Imagination Stage, Levine Music Theatre, Theatre Lab, Constellation Theatre, and Anacostia Playhouse. Here at GWU, she has coached the CTAD productions of Cabaret and The Wolves.

She has also taught at American University, Shepherd University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Everyman Theatre, The Actors’ Center, and Duke Ellington School for the Arts. She has been a longtime instructor at The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts, where she is also the resident dialect coach.

Distinctions

• Helen Hayes Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play for The Skin of Our Teeth at Constellation Theatre
• Helen Hayes Award Ensemble nominee for How the Light Gets In at 1st Stage
• Helen Hayes Award Ensemble nominee for Alice at Round House Theatre
• Five-time recipient of the DC Council on the Arts & Humanities Arts & Humanities Fellowship

Other Work

• Company member/Literary Manager at Taffety Punk Theatre Company
• Instructor and Resident Dialect Coach at Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts.
• Mentor, theatreWashington’s Theatre Work program
• Mentor, StateraArts mentorship program
• Jacobeans master class, Georgetown University Department of English
• panels: theatreWashington, Actors’ Center, Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival

Professional Organizations

• Actors’ Equity Association (AEA)

• Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)

• Association for Theatre in Higher Education

• Theatre Communications Group

Education

She has a BFA in Acting from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and an MFA from the Professional Actor Training Program at Ohio University.