My story

Diane Ciesla (she/her/hers) began her career in her hometown of Chicago working at the Goodman, Illinois Theater Center, Marriott Theatre and Pheasant Run after her graduation from Clarke University. Study with Stella Adler (and ultimately Robert Lewis) brought her to NYC, and much to her and everyone’s surprise this die-hard Chicagoan stayed.

Film: 5 Flights Up (Morgan Freeman & Diane Keaton), Fits And Starts (Wyatt Cenac),The Cookbook (Best Female Performance), Another Earth (Brit Marling), Off Track Betty (Award-winning short), The Foxy Merkins (2014 Sundance Finalist).

TV: “Law & Order” (Recurring, Judge Evelyn Boyd), Hulu’s “The Path”, “K & A” (Jonathan Katz), “Search Party”, “Difficult People”, “Royal Pains”, “Lipstick Jungle”,  “All My Children” and “Guiding Light”.

Diane is proud to have collaborated in the development of new American and foreign plays at Hartford Stage, McCarter Theatre, Soho Rep, New Georges, Bushwick Starr, Billie Holiday Theatre, The Lark, La MaMa, New Dramatists and Cape Cod Theatre Project.

Select theatre credits include Frank McGuinness’s Gates of Gold, (59E59), The Bird Sanctuary (Pittsburgh Public & Alabama Shakespeare), String of Pearls (PlayMakers), Mount Allegro (GeVa Theatre), Lost in Yonkers (Tour/Emanuel Azenberg, Producer), and a list of wonderful characters (Lady Bracknell, Mrs. Mannerly, Mrs. Warren, and Sister Aloysius) to name a few.

Outside of acting Diane gets great satisfaction from helping young actors and has taught at NYU and is on faculty at AMDA.

MY REEL

Latest News

  • The Joke

    A short farce about the failure of comedy and the comedy of failure.

    Shooting August 2025

  • Homebody

    A film about a young artist facing eviction after her mother’s death, searching for creative ways to defend her right to stay in her family’s Brooklyn apartment is in post-production. HOMEBODY is the recipient of the 2024 NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music, & Theatre from the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment (MOME).

    July 2025

    Learn more ↗

  • Theys of our Lives

    A Columbia University Graduate thesis film affirming that some things take time to grow—including self-discovery.

    March 2025

    Learn more ↗

  • NBC Law & Order “Time Will Tell”

    Judge Evelyn Boyd

    Episode aired Nov 7, 2024

    Learn more ↗

  • The World's Fair Plays - Revisited!

    THEATERAMA! Celebrating the World's Fair 60th Anniversary

    Learn more ↗

  • Orlando Urban Film Festival, 2024

    Best Actress Nominee for
    “The Cookbook”

    Learn more ↗

  • INTO THE EVERYDAY AND EXISTENTIAL

    Nobel Laureate Jon Fosse’s Texts for Performance in New York, 2004 to the present

    Learn more ↗

  • NBC Law & Order “Inconvenient Truth”


    Judge Evelyn Boyd

    Learn more ↗

In the press

  • “When a scientist working for SETI, Dr. Joan Tallis (Diane Ciesla), makes first televised contact with herself from across the stars, it is a gut - wrenching moment with implications going far beyond even the shocked, dumbfounded faces of Rhoda's family as they watch it on their television.”

    Dustin Putman, The Film File

  • “ .. As tight - faced Sister Aloysius, Diane Ciesla is the picture of Catholic School propriety — she ’ s all about discipline and discourages freethinking. But she ’ s not a humorless stereotype, she ’ s smart as a whip, and ultimately her words — and her actions — reveal that she has her students ’ best interests at heart . A tense, nail - biting drama with crackling dialogue and superb acting talent... It will confirm your belief in live theater .

    Bill DeYoung, Florida TC Palm (Sunday’s Best Bet)

  • “ The subtlest revelations of all, however, came from Diane Ciesla. She was a fierce tyrant as Grandma Kurnitz, glaring, accusing and lashing out with her cane, but offering glimmers and then windows into the wounds and worries underneath her obnoxious armor. ”

    Roger McBain, Evansville Courier & Press

  • “ Ciesla has all the right accoutrements for Mrs. Man nerly . Her bearing is precise, diction faultless, and her comportment polished. Ciesla shines in an amusing scene where she and Jeffrey spend some time together in a bar ... She shows the lonely woman beneath her polished veneer with great skill. ”

    Cynthia O. Topps, Times Herald–Record

  • “Diane Ciesla as Kassie, Gabriel’s free-spirited sister, is the delightfully selfish monster who overlooks her brother’s impending death to talk about her own problems. A charming card shark of a woman, she loves her brother deeply, and her pain at the thought of his passing is one of the emotional anchors of the play.”

    Cahir O'Doherty, Irish Central

  • “Diane Ciesla is juggernaut of snobbish savvy as Lady Bracknell, a domineering tyrant loathe to tolerate any argument with her pronouncements, not just because arguments "are always vulgar," but because they also are "often convincing."

    Roger McBain, Evansville Courier & Press

  • “ the talented cast expertly brings deathvariations to life. Ciesla perfectly captures the height and style of Fosse’s writing, delivering a nuance and stylized performance.”

    Sean, Michael O’Donnell, Show Business

  • “.... Diane Ciesla delivers a powerful and emotional performance as Miss Brody. Ciesla manages Miss Brody’s transition from overly sure, romantic and charismatic teacher to the woman facing herself and the consequences of her delusions with touching realism.”

    Jim Lowe, Montpelier The Times Argus

  • "But the two most poignant moments in the play for me are those between Diane Ciesla's angry Tina and David Turner's feeling, subtle Stephen. Both use a song. As their drunken excitement wanes, Stephen starts singing "After the Ball," and his mother -- who has refused to speak to him -- joins in; her brief final verse is an epic of longing. Later, Robert sings "Salve Regina," an anthem of the Virgin Mary most associated with the close of day, and director Kent Paul creates a vivid stage image with Tina's tentative hand at its center."

    Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

  • “ All five characters are Irish, but only Tina has a brogue (the story explains the more British dialects of the others) and, as the only Henryson not connected by blood, she is an outsider in several ways. However, Tina has a complete journey in this story, and Ciesla's work in the second act is stunning and powerful. ”

    Ann Miner, Talkin Broadway

  • “ String of Pearls ” begins and ends with a 74 - year - old woman named Beth (played by Diane Ciesla) ... ...Ciesla ’ s best is exquisite. ”

    Orla Swift – Raleigh News & Observer

  • “ Jacqueline Lucid as Vivie and Diane Ciesla, as her mother, keep the ideas juggling nimbly while getting at the emotional hub of the difficult mother daughter communion. The characters are more alike than they ’ d like to admit – both are good businesswomen and have suppressed their vulnerability in order to function capably, capably and paid a price for it. The plays last scene, which shows that being right is not always right thing for one ’ s happiness is especially touching here ... In fact, it ’ s devastating. ”

    Aileen Jacobson, Newsday

  • “... the performers (led by the well - known actor, Tony Musante as the father and Diane Ciesla as the mother) breathe warmth and dignity into their characters. ”

    Eugene Marino, Rochester Times–Union

  • “ Ciesla has only one seen as Aunt Blanche, but makes a present felt long after leaving the stage. Her character was more prominent in Simon ’ s first work. But as Ciesla plays her, she is no less luminous. ”

    Jeff Alexander, Jupiter Courier Journal

  • “ Salem Ludwig as Ben, Eugene ’ s grandfather, was able to wring emotions from warm humor to tears. His scene in the middle Act I with Blanche, movingly played by Diane Ciesla, was a gem. ”

    Edmond Dante, Southern Stages

  • “ ... Without question, the best performance is Ciesla’s . Vinnie has a lovable addled quality, but she’s no pushover, and Ciesla invests her with warmth and charm. Her husband may dominate his wife and four sons, but she is the source of the family stability and heart. A less skilful performer might cause the audience to wonder why Vinnie puts up with her blustering husband, but Ciesla’s open hearted depiction makes it clear that their love for one another is the center of Vinnie’s world and her family’s. ”

    Michael Lasser, Rochester Times – Union