Matt Chiorini

Producing Artistic Director
Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre
Theatre Lecturer

office: 900 Oak Street, Conway
phone: 501-269-4815
email: MChiorini@uca.edu
teaching specialties:

MFA Moscow Art Theatre in conjunction with Harvard University
BA Santa Clara University

Mr. Chiorini comes to UCA after having served as Artistic Director of People's Branch Theatre, named "Best Local Theatrical Group" by readers of the Nashville Scene 2 years in a row. He has acted, directed or produced most of the productions in PBT’s 6 season history, including his critically acclaimed adaptations of Dostoevsky's "The Idiot" (finalist in the American Theatre Critic's Association new play search), Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" (winner of a Tennessean award for best new play) and others. He is a regular actor and teacher at the Tennessee Repertory Theatre, The Nashville Shakespeare Fest, and the Nashville Children’s Theater, earning him 12 "Tennie awards" from the Tennesseean newspaper, as well as out of state with work at American Stage, Riverside Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, and American Conservatory Theatre.

As a teacher, Matt is a former member of the adjunct faculty at Belmont University and the University of the South at Sewanee. He received his MFA from A.R.T. Institute at Harvard University (where he was the winner of an Independent Reviewers of New England Award) and the Moscow Art Theater, where he lived in the spring of 2002.

He also has the distinct pleasure of being the creator and Theatre Division Director for Crystal Cruises, creating the award-winning Repertory Theatre at Sea program still running on cruise ships all over the world. He is the co-winner of the Tennessee Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship for 2005, a nationally published playwright through Dramatic Publishing, and a new father.

AST's Mission

The mission of AST is to entertain, engage, and enrich the community by creating professional and accessible productions of Shakespeare and other works that promote educational opportunities, community involvement, and the highest artistic standards. In pursuing this mission, we seek to be a source of pride and an invaluable resource to our University, our community, and to greater Central Arkansas.