This six-week acting class is open to all levels — from the curious beginner to the working actor — and is designed as a continuous, progressive exploration of acting through storytelling, monologue, and scene work.

The first two weeks focus on foundational work through exercises, monologues, and guided exploration, introducing participants to Diogo’s approach and establishing a shared working language. The emphasis during this phase is on openness, play, and spontaneity — creating space to explore without pressure or preconceived ideas about “acting.”

The following weeks shift toward working with short scenes, with an emphasis on understanding the play's or film's given circumstances and responding to them as one would in life. The work centers on the character’s situation, concerns, and point of view, allowing instinct and natural behavior to guide the scene.

Scenes may be assigned by Diogo or brought in by the participants. They will be presented and explored in class, receive feedback, and then be revisited the following week, allowing the work to deepen organically through repetition, adjustment, and continued discovery.

INSTRUCTOR BIO

Diogo C. Martins is an actor, writer, and producer originally from Lisbon, Portugal, now based in New York. He works internationally across theater, film, and VoiceOver, splitting his professional credits between the US and Portugal. He holds an MFA in Acting from the Actors Studio Drama School and is Co-Artistic Director of Saudade Theatre, the first U.S. company dedicated to Portuguese-American stories. His work spans stage and screen, including roles in FBI (CBS) and The Pianist (NOS), as well as theatre performances in Gruesome Playground Injuries (Gibney Theater) and The Accident (Kraine Theater—Best Drama, Frigid Festival 2015). He has also lent his voice to projects like Nobel laureate José Saramago’s Skylight audiobook.