We will screen SAFE HAVEN Friday, May 17.

Friday, May 17 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. – Safe Haven (2012) Starring Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough; Rated PG-13; 120 minutes. Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

When a mysterious young woman arrives in a small North Carolina town, her reluctance to join the tight knit community raises questions about her past. Slowly, she begins putting down roots, and gains the courage to start a relationship with Alex, a widowed store owner with two young children. But dark secrets intrude on her new life with such terror that she is forced to rediscover the meaning of sacrifice and rely on the power of love in this deeply moving romantic thriller.

For more information, please watch the film's trailer. Check out the rest of our Friday Night Features in May.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs available on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).

Catherine Lindsey Workshop Auditions

The Catherine Lindsey Actors/Playwrights Workshop, now in its 21st year, will be holding acting auditions for roles in their public performances. The playwriting workshops began in February and will conclude with a public performance at the Library on Sunday, June 9.

Acting auditions will take place in the Library’s Conference Room at the following sessions:

Wednesday, May 8 at 7 p.m.

Thursday, May 9 at 7 p.m.

Rehearsals will then take place in late May through the performance in June. Directors are looking specifically for the following, but auditions are open to all:

- 2 males in their 70s

- 2 males in their 40s

- 1 male in his 20s

- 1 female in her 40s

On Sunday, June 9   at 2 p.m., the Actors/Playwrights Workshop will present the public-staged reading of selections from the plays in the Library’s Community Room.

The plays selected for performance by the Darien Library Committee are:

442: Go for Broke by Louis DiGiusto

Lenny and Freddy by Kathleen A. Bernadette

Dear Eva by Paul Janensch and Catherine Ladnier

His Play by Michael Blevins

A Tasting Menu by Mary Ellen Murphy

The Actors/Playwrights Workshop welcomes Actors’ Equity actors and non-Equity actors to participate, brings together local and regional playwrights and actors, and encourages a collaborative effort to create new plays and present a public-staged reading. Co-founded by the late Catherine Lindsey and her husband Robert, the workshop introduces original plays in progress to be developed in a workshop environment with the goal of the public-staged readings. Catherine Lindsey was a beloved friend of the Library and director of Darien Library Theater for over 25 years. The memorial workshops offer actors and playwrights the opportunity to work together to create original theatrical works in a supportive and creative environment culminating in the staged readings of short scenes from full-length plays, one-act plays, musicals, and monologues.

The Actors/Playwrights Workshop welcomes all interested playwrights and actors (Equity and Non-Equity), with or without experience, to join. For more information, contact Robert Cusack at (203) 655-7699 or at robert.cusack1@att.net.

"Stitches" by David Small will be the final book in our Spring Discussion Series.

Stitches by David Small

Tuesday, May 14 at 7 p.m.

David Small, a best-selling and highly regarded children's book illustrator, comes forward with this unflinching graphic memoir. Remarkable and intensely dramatic, Stitches tells the story of a fourteen-year-old boy who awakes one day from a supposedly harmless operation to discover that he has been transformed into a virtual mute—a vocal cord removed, his throat slashed and stitched together like a bloody boot. From horror to hope, Small proceeds to graphically portray an almost unbelievable descent into adolescent hell and the difficult road to physical, emotional, and artistic recovery.

National Book Award Finalist

“A profound and moving gift of graphic literature that has the look of a movie and reads like a poem.” -- Jules Feiffer

“A breathtaking, horrific, and ultimately redemptive work.” -- Miami Herald

Library staff members will lead the discussions.

We have copies of the books available for patrons to borrow, but prior reading of the books is not necessary to attend the discussions.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).

María Esther Magallanes' show will run from January 22 - February 26.

Opening Reception

Friday, February 1 at 6:30 p.m.

Show runs January 22nd through February 26th

María Esther Magallanes was born in Mexico City. She comes from a family of accomplished artists and was raised surrounded by and appreciating all forms of art. Traveling to many cultural destinations around the world and growing up within Mexico City’s cosmopolitan atmosphere and rich cultural heritage enhanced her motivation to start creating formally while still a teenager. Earning a college degree in graphic design enabled her to experiment with materials, techniques, color and form to express ideas, concepts and feelings. Such experimentation led to mastering acrylic, the material that she has been using consistently over the past 20 years.

Mexico’s cultural, architectural natural and geographic diversity provided María Esther with plenty of inspiration to experiment with color and forms. Her work is based on the use of vibrant, nearly violent, colors and shapes to interpret nature and landscapes. Her trademark style is marked by her admiration to and the inspiration provided by Pablo Picasso, Al Held, as well as Mexican painters Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco and Pedro Coronel.

She has remained faithful to her use of vibrant colors and forms to deconstruct reality and nature. Her work decorates the homes of many art collectors throughout Mexico, the United States and Europe.

María Esther Magallanes holds a BA in Graphic Design from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and has completed different painting courses at the Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan, CT.