Elisa Gonzales is a Mexican-American theatre artist, playwright, actor, educator, and voice, speech, and dialect coach. She is a certified Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework® and a certified teacher of Knight-Thompson Speechwork. Originally from Southern California, Elisa is currently based in Amherst, MA, where she is the Assistant Professor of Voice and Acting in the Department of Theater at UMass Amherst. Elisa is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association, VASTA (the Voice and Speech Trainers Association), and ATHE (Association for Theatre in Higher Education), the Dramatist's Guild, and NALAC (National Association for Latino Arts and Culture).

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Elisa received her MFA in Theatre Performance from Arizona State University, and has a BFA in Acting from Emerson College. In addition to her experience in various voice and movement methodologies and training, Elisa has extensive training in Lecoq, Rasaboxes, Viewpoints, Meisner, and voice over work.

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As a performer, Elisa’s work has been seen at the New York International Fringe Festival, the Nuyorican Poets Café, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, the La Jolla Playhouse, Arizona State University, and the Tempe History Museum.

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As a voice, text, and dialect coach, Elisa has worked at American Repertory Theatre, American Players Theatre, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, Silverthorne Theatre Company, WAM Theatre, the Hangar Theatre Company, and the Phoenix Theatre Company, as well as colleges and universities across the country. 

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Elisa is the co-author of of the upcoming book, Performing Accents and Dialects of the Spanish Speaking Diaspora (with Adriano Cabral and Josh FS Moser), which will be published by Routledge in early 2025.  She has also published peer-reviewed articles in the Voice and Speech Review, and has regularly presented her scholarship at national and international conferences.

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Elisa’s greatest passion in theatre is creating and performing work that honors cultural identity, ancestry, history, and the voice.