
Diego Arciniegas
Senior Lecturer in Theatre Studies
Focused on suiting the word to the action and the action to the word.
I'm fascinated by how emotion enhances the creation of knowledge. I am particularly interested in the exploring the role that instinct and feeling play in informing decision making My work with students is dedicated to integrating personal passion with intellectual understanding, to encouraging thought corroborated by, but not overcome with, feeling, and to the free expression of feeling informed, but not constrained, by thought.
I am artistic director of The Publick Theatre in Boston. I recently directed Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee, and Humble Boy by Charlotte Jones, for the Publick Theatre.
I also recently directed From Orchid’s to Octopii: An Evolutionary Love Story , by Wellesley's Melinda Lopez. This new play, commissioned by the National Institute of Health, and produced by Underground Railway Theatre, celebrates the bicentennial of the publication of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species . Orchids opened at the Bethesda Theatre, Maryland, in then played at the Central Square Theatre in Cambridge.
I am also an actor, and recently played Voltaire in Karen Zacharías’ play Legacy of Light at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston.
Education
- B.A., Williams College
Current and upcoming courses
Acting for (and with) the Camera
THST310
This course builds upon the basic techniques taught in Acting 1 for achieving authenticity on stage, and reframes them in the context of the subtler, electronically sensitive environment of the small screen. Acting students will learn to maintain emotional stakes and dramatic tension, while conveying them in stillness, simplicity, and with breath control for the nuanced and electronically magnified environment of a camera recording. Students will learn various techniques to calibrate performance for wide and medium shots, as well as what to do in "close-up". Through classroom film sessions and independent recording assignments, students will develop a personal performance aesthetic for film and television production.
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Acting l: Achieving Authenticity
THST204
Students are introduced to the fundamentals of contemporary acting, as devised by such stage theoreticians as Constantine Stanislavsky, Lee Strasberg, and Sanford Meisner. Instruction focuses on the proper methods for breaking scenes down into component units or "beats," and achieving a measure of authenticity discernible in person or through the camera lens. Students perform with a rotating roster of partners, emphasizing group learning and mutual support in the pursuit of an individual acting aesthetic. It is intended for any and all levels of experience. -
Voice and Movement
THST217H
This course will give students the tools and skills to develop a character either from the outside in, using movement, or from the inside out, using the voice. Basing vocal and physical techniques from Kristin Linklater's "Freeing the Natural Voice" and Constantine Stanislavsky's "Building a Character", students will discover the use of their voice and body as instruments for story telling. Class work will focus on both individual and group work, with particular attention given to layering voice and movement with text to create vivid fully developed characters.