Bryson David Hoff (he/him/his) is a Chicago-based performer with a passion for connecting audiences through epic storytelling.

Bryson received his Bachelor’s Degree from Millikin University in Decatur, IL with a double-major in Theatre Arts and English Writing. During his time there, he spent a semester abroad in London where he trained at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. He was also a James Millikin Scholar, with his capstone project consisting of the composition and performance of Bull!, a solo performance piece based on the ancient Irish myth Táin Bó Cúailnge.

He is currently working on his Master’s of Fine Arts degree in Acting at The Theatre School at DePaul University, which he expects to complete in Spring 2025. During his time there, he was the 2024 recipient of the Michael Maggio Memorial Scholarship. His performance credits at the theatre school include the premiere productions of Ascension and Her Father’s Daughter, as well as Inheritors and Pericles, Prince of Tyre.

In the professional world, Bryson has appeared in many productions in and outside of Chicagoland with Shakespeare and other elevated texts as his main area of interest. Particular favorites include As You Like It (Hoosier Shakespeare Festival), Julius Caesar (Two Brothers Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Sweet Tea Shakespeare), and Holding the Man (Pride Arts Center). He has also narrated several audiobooks and, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, was a major participant in the Digital Restoration Project, a digital theatre company which produced a series of audiodramas adapted from the canon of English Restoration comedies.

Bryson is also a founding member of Scrap Paper Shakespeare, a black box theatre company dedicated to bringing intimate, text-forward classical theatre to the North Carolina Research Triangle. He has appeared in Scrap Paper’s productions of Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Arms and the Man, and Arabella as well as acting as text coach for their productions of Prince Hal and Romeo and Juliet. He also serves as the company’s Associate Artistic Director of Programming.

In his spare time, Bryson enjoys playing the guitar, weightlifting, and tabletop roleplaying games.