Department
Biography:
Tonya Beckman 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, Constellation Theatre, and Anacostia Playhouse. She has also coached Silent Sky, Cabaret, and The Wolves for George Washington University, Bright Star for Levine Music Theatre, Dancing at Lughnasa at Lumina Studio Theatre, and numerous productions at The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts, where she is the resident dialect coach.
She has taught at George Washington University, American University, Shepherd University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Theatre Lab, Duke Ellington School for the Arts, and has worked as a teaching artist at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Everyman Theatre, and The Actors’ Center.