An accomplished actor/writer/director/activist & educator, Sonja has worked with many notable venues including: The Public Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company-London, The Kennedy Center, Playwrights’ Horizon, The Boston Center for the Arts, The Guthrie Theatre, Penumbra Theatre, The Wallis Annenberg Center-Beverly Hills, Links Hall-Chicago & The Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis.
She trained at The University of Texas, The Dance Theater of Harlem & The National Black Theater under the direct tutelage of the founder and artistic director, the late Dr. Barbara Ann Teer.
An original member of Doris Duke Fellow Sharon Bridgforth’s celebrated root wy’mn theatre company, she originated 2 one-woman shows, one of which was nominated for an Osborn Award by the American Theatre Critics Association.
A respected artist in the field, she’s also served on many national panels with other distinguished artists and newsmakers including: Kerry Kennedy of The Kennedy Center, journalists Nicholas Kristof & Ann Curry; film producer Julius Tennon of JuVee Productions (a joint venture with his wife, Viola Davis); Swedish actor/director Josette Bushell-Mingo; British Theatre Historian, Nike Jonah & noted American Theatre Historian, Todd London.
Her commitment to arts activism has led her to many parts of the world including: Lagos, Nigeria; Accra, Ghana; Berlin, Germany; Reykjavik, Iceland; Havana, Cuba; Cape Town, South Africa and the Movement for Black Lives in Ferguson, MO.
Her panel, “Race, Colonization & Art: An Afro-Global Perspective”, was featured as part of the Theatre Communications Group/Global Theatre Initiative’s inaugural International Conference, a gathering of arts professionals from across the globe at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
She is an NEA Fellow; a McKnight Artist Fellow; a 2-time Minnesota State Arts Board Fellow; a 2-time Minneapolis Ivey Award winner (Acting-2009 & Directing-2010); a TCG/Fox Distinguished Achievement Resident Acting Fellow; a McCarter Theatre Center-Princeton/Sallie B. Goodman Artistic Fellow; a 2021 Kennedy Center Gold Medallion Awardee; has been a featured artist in Time Magazine and named “One to Watch” and one of “Seven Artists You Must See” by American Theatre Magazine.
In collaboration with The Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis, she was part of the only American contingent invited to perform at the 2017 ASSITEJ World Congress held in Cape Town, South Africa.
She taught acting and theatre for 8 years as a member of the Theatre Arts faculty at The University of Minnesota/Twin Cities where she conceived and spearhead the BA Mentoring program (also known as BAM), now an integral component of the Bachelor of Arts training curriculum. At the U of M, she also served as the Lead Instructor of a training program for law students in collaboration with the Mondale School of Law.
She has been a teaching artist-in-residence at DePaul University/Chicago, Hampshire College/Amherst, Cornish College of the Arts/Seattle, and the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Currently, she serves as the Guest Artistic Director for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
