BWW Profile: DARIEN ARTS CENTER

When you think of a community arts center, the image that usually comes to mind is a sorry looking old barn or otherwise abandoned space. You will be pleasantly surprised when you visit the Darien Arts Center. Yes, it's located in a typical New England bedroom community, but it is entirely different from what you probably expect - a modern building with an industrial chic interior, right behind the Darien Town Hall. What goes on inside is even more impressive.

I have been attending theatrical productions at the Darien Arts Center for more than 20 years. I've seen shows that range from crowd-pleasing oldies to new works by budding playwrights. I know there are concerts, dance and art shows, but theatre is always my top priority.

"There is more stuff going on creatively in this little patch of land behind the Town Hall," says professional actress and producer Donna McLaughlin Wyant. "A multi-use space can have a really wonderful impact on the arts in the community."

Nearly four years ago, the theatre part of the Darien Arts Center got a boost when Wyant became part of the stage committee. At the second meeting, the other committee members asked her what she would do on the stage. Through a generous grant from the Darien Foundation, The Darien Arts Center had recently acquired a state-of-the-art audio and visual system that was begging to be used. The idea that live theatre would use projections seemed a little crazy at the time, but Wyant saw the potential. She inaugurated it when she directed Patrick Barlow's adaptation of The 39 Steps "because [the show] incorporates the use of multi-media without being kitschy," she says. The new six channel audio-visual system was able to use more than 130 sound effects and delivered "a film with live stage action segment, showing the leading actor being chased by dogs, policemen and airplanes as he ran across the Scottish moors," she says.

The show was originally staged in New York with just four cast members playing 150 roles, but she cast six actors in this production with the permission of the publisher. She felt that the two extra actors were necessary because of safety issues and that it would be a tremendous burden to put on just four people. Community theatres typically lack a dedicated wardrobe person, make-up artist, and other unsung heroes. In addition, having more actors meant drawing a larger audience.

Coming up at the Darien Arts Center is a staged reading actress and playwright Mary Jane Schaefer's play, Shakespeare and the Heart's Desire. This is the third of Shaefer's trilogy about Shakespeare's life and it explores a part few people know about. Each play can be a standalone. (The earlier ones are Shakespeare Rising and Judith Shakespeare Has Her Say.) "All three plays try to show him as human, although the first play also celebrates his emergency as a great artists," says Schaefer. She is being modest. The plays have angles most people don't expect and illuminate his interests and his emotions. This is not heavy Shakespeare, the type of play you feel obligated to see in order to fill your quota of serious theatre and fit in with the theatre snobs. This is accessible Shakespeare and it's thrilling. Directed by Mark Graham, the cast of Shakespeare and the Heart's Desire includes Larry Reina, John O'Hern, Damian Langan, Tom Zingarelli, Allan Zeller, Joe Maker, Richard Weidlich, Scott Bruno, Betty Jinnette, Emilie Roberts, and Marca Leigh. The play includes live Elizabethan-style music, composed on short noticed by Stephanie Wong, who teaches violin, viola, piano and flute at the Darien Arts Center. "Everybody [is] part of the process," enthuses Wyant. "It's synergy with the right people."

A former New York resident, Wyant is excited about the upcoming programs at the Darien Arts Center that has the capacity to incorporate all the things it offers - theatre, music, dance, art. "We're not trying to compete with Broadway, but the effort to attract the best local talent, to utilize our artists in our community and engage our rich heritage here in the shadows of Broadway, is a goal worth the effort," she says. "The Darien Arts Center Stage now boasts a membership of over 20 volunteers with monthly meetings, and committees that help select our plays and offerings in the ... Weatherstone Studio. There is a theatre Facebook page open to all interested in theatre, and dedicated to theatre events, updates and news.

Wyant will create a film to help promote "Darien's Got Talent," a highly anticipated talent competition slated for June 2016. This talent contest will feature local talent of all ages, with top professional entertainment judges, and will award prizes and exposure opportunities to all who participate.

"It's impossible to underscore DAC's longstanding commitment to the arts, which began in 1975 as a nonprofit organization by citizens who believed that the arts shape lives," she says. "That belief still resonates and is evident in the many educational programs in visual arts, dance, music, preforming arts together with public performances and one-night events like Shakespeare and the Heart's Desire, which lend a vital voice to brilliant local playwrights like Ms. Schaefer. When the Darien Arts Center says there's always something going on at the Darien Arts Center, they're not kidding. Art does shape lives after all, and I am glad to be a small part of the process at the Darien Arts Center.

The Darien Arts Center is located at 2 Renshaw Road, behind the Town Hall. For more information, call (203) 655-8683 or visit www.darienarts.org. Also visit www.schaeferonshakespeare.com.

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