Tonya Lynn is a fight director, intimacy director, actor, and director with over 160 stage credits, including Colonial Williamsburg's Hallam Players, West Virginia Public Theatre, Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater, the Pittsburgh Fringe Festival, and a broad number of universities including Point Park University, Carnegie Mellon University, Community College of Allegheny County, Slippery Rock University, Allegheny College, and the University of Pittsburgh. She is recognized by the Society of American Fight Directors as a Certified Teacher and Fight Director.
Tonya is a company member in the New Renaissance Theatre Company and a co-founder of Brawling Bard Theater, a company focusing on reimagining classical theatrical works while providing opportunities for young actors to learn and perform stage combat. Tonya is the recipient of the 2024 KCACTF Award for Distinguished Achievement in Fight and Intimacy Direction for ≈ [Almost Equal To] at the Pittsburgh Playhouse.
As a theatrical educator, Tonya is currently the Richard E. Rauh Teaching Artist-in-Residence in Performance at the University of Pittsburgh, and an adjunct instructor at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama and at Point Park University's College of Performing Arts. Tonya has also been a teaching artist with Pittsburgh Public Theatre, City Theatre, Gateway to the Arts, and Hope Academy for Music & the Arts.
She is a co-founder and Workshop Coordinator for the Allegheny Alley Fight regional stage combat workshop, and served as a Workshop Coordinator for the 2023 Fight Choreographer Track at the New York Summer Sling stage combat workshop.