Shona Tucker

Shona Tucker is an American actress and director. Beginning in the 1990s, she had roles in several television shows including Law & Order and New York Undercover. She has appeared in regional theater, including at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Off-Broadway at The Public Theater and elsewhere, in films such as 2016's King Cobra, and on Broadway in original cast of 2018's To Kill a Mockingbird. She has taught drama at Vassar College since 2008.

Shona Tucker
Tucker in her dressing room for To Kill a Mockingbird
Born	Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Education	Northwestern University (BS) New York University (MFA)

Life and career

Tucker was born in Louisville Kentucky, where she began acting at the Louisville Youth Performing Arts School. While still in high school, she began her long relationship with Actors Theatre of Louisville as assistant to Paul Owen, the resident scenic designer as an intern on The Louisville Zoo 2. She has returned to perform at Actors Theatre in five different plays.

A Fulbright Scholar, a Schomburg Fellow, and an Audelco Award winner,[1] she earned a BS from Northwestern University and MFA in Acting at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.[2] She has served as Associate Professor of Drama at Vassar College from 2008 to the present.[3]

She was a company member at Oregon Shakespeare Festival from 2005 to 2008, acting in such plays as Fences,[4][5] A Midsummer Night's Dream,[6] Gem of the Ocean,[7] and Bus Stop.[8]

Her Off-Broadway theatre credits include productions at New York Theatre Workshop, Lincoln Center Theater Directors' Lab, The Public Theater, Circle in the Square, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, and La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club.

She played the role of Rita in the world premiere of the award-winning play Eclipsed at Yale Repertory Theatre.[9] She also created the roles of Sherry and Dr. Toros in Pulitzer Prize finalist Amy Herzog's Mary Jane, also at Yale Repertory Theatre.[10][11] She created the roles of Angela and Angie in the world premiere of Tough Titty at Williamstown Theatre Festival.[12]

Her feature film credits include: James Franco's King Cobra (2016), Keane (2004), Preaching to the Choir (2005) and Boys on the Side (1995) with Whoopi Goldberg and Mary-Louise Parker.

Tucker has played roles in a number of television series including New York Undercover (recurring), Queens Supreme, Law & Order, and Third Watch. She has also acted in several TV movies and shorts.

Works

Broadway

Title	Role	Venue	Notes
To Kill A Mockingbird[13]	Ensemble, U/S Calpurnia	Shubert Theater	Original Broadway Cast

Off-Broadway

Title	Role	Venue	Notes
Twelfth Night[14][15]	Feste	Joseph Papp Public Theatre
The African Company Presents Richard III][16]	Sarah	Joseph Papp Public Theatre	Audelco Award
From the Mississippi Delta	Phelia	Circle In the Square Theatre
Light Shining in Buckinghamshire	Hoskins	New York Theatre Workshop
Marvin's Room[17]	Dr. Charlotte	Playwrights Horizons
The Investigation of the Murder in El Salvador [18]	Singing Maid	New York Theatre Workshop
Imperceptible Mutabilities [19]	Buffy	Manhattan Theatre Club

Regional Theater

Title	Role	Venue	Notes
Mary Jane[20]	Sherry/Dr. Toros	Yale Repertory Theatre	Original Cast
Eclipsed[21]	Rita	Yale Repertory Theatre	World Premiere
Love and Information[22]	Many Roles	American Conservatory Theater
Blithe Spirit[23]	Ruth	American Conservatory Theater
Tartuffe[24]	Elmire	American Conservatory Theater
Insurrection[25]	Mama Mo'tel	American Conservatory Theater
Fences[26]	Rose	Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Bus Stop[27]	Grace	Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Romeo and Juliet	Lady Capulet	Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Gem of the Ocean	Black Mary	Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Tough Titty	Angela	Williamstown Theatre Festival

Film

Year	Film	Role
2016	King Cobra	Detective Banks
2009	Walk the Fish(Short)	Woman on the Bus
2005	Preaching to the Choir	Claretha
2004	Keane	Voice
1998	Trinity	Medical Examiner
1995	Boys on the Side	Hotel Clerk

Television

Year	Show	Role	Episode(s)
2011	Lights Out	Mary Reade	"The Comeback"
2003	Queens Supreme	Voice	"One Angry Man"
1999	Third Watch	Detox Counselor	"Anywhere But Here"
1994	New York Undercover	Det. Presley	"Tasha", "Garbage"
1990-1993	Law & Order	Dolores Ruffin (1993), Records Clerk (1990)	"Born Bad" (Dolores Ruffin), "Prescription for Death" (Records Clerk)

References

1. "Yara Arts Group's "Fire Water Night" at La MaMa". BRAMA.
2. "Drama professor Shona Tucker found roots in television". The Miscellany News.
3. "Shona Tucker - Drama Department". Vassar College.
4. Varble, Bill. "Review: August Wilson's 'Fences' is poetic, powerful". Mail Tribune.
5. "Shakespeare Fest: The plays". OregonLive.com.
6. "Beyond 'Othello': African American actors at Oregon Shakespeare Festival". The Oregonian.
7. Varble, Bill. "Wilson's 'Gem' is a diamond in the rough". Mail Tribune.
8. "'Bus Stop' a journey worth taking with Oregon Shakespeare Festival". East Bay Times. 1 June 2006.
9. Isherwood, Charles. "Theater Review - 'Eclipsed' - Prisoners of War and Sex At Yale Rep". The New York Times.
10. ARNOTT, CHRISTOPHER. "Yale Rep's 'Mary Jane' A Medical Drama With Tears, Hope". Courant.
11. Teachout, Terry. "'Mary Jane' Review: An Ordinary Heroine". WSJ.
12. RIZZO, FRANK. "SMART, 'LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN' AT WILLIAMSTOWN". Hartford Courant.
13. Green, Jesse (13 December 2018). "Review: A Broadway 'Mockingbird,' Elegiac and Effective". The New York Times.
14. O'Connor, Patrick (2016). A Directory of Shakespeare in Performance since 1991 (3 ed.). New York City: Springer Publishing Co. p. 1894.
15. O'Connor, Patrick (2016). A Directory of Shakespeare in Performance since 1991 (3 ed.). New York City: Springer Publishing Co. p. 1894.
16. Brantley, Ben (19 May 1994). "Review/Theater; Giving Shakespeare a Racial Twist". The New York Times.
17. "Shona Tucker Theatre Credits". Broadway World.
18. "NYTW / The Investigation of the Murder in El Salvador". NYTW.
19. Gussow, Mel (20 September 1989). "Review/Theater; Identity Loss in 'Imperceptible Mutabilities'". The New York Times.
20. Teachout, Terry (11 May 2017). "'Mary Jane' Review: An Ordinary Heroine". The Wall Street Journal.
21. Desk, BWW News. "Yale Repertory Theatre's ECLIPSED Continues Through 11/14". Broadway World.
22. "Love and Information - the STAGE REVIEW". the STAGE REVIEW.
23. "Blithe Spirit at American Conservatory Theater Geary Theater 2001-2002". www.abouttheartists.com.
24. Harvey, Dennis (28 June 1999). "Tartuffe". Variety.
25. O'Hara, Robert (1991). Insurrection: Holding History (1 ed.). New York City: Theatre Communications Group. p. 8.
26. Varble, Bill. "Review: August Wilson's 'Fences' is poetic, powerful". Mail Tribune.
27. Filichia, Peter. "Stop, Look, and Listen". TheaterMania.com.

External links

• Shona Tucker at the Internet Broadway Database
• Shona Tucker at IMDb