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“One Week’s Casualties” at Black Rock (Monday)

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19

Its Proper Place
The non-profit Art/Place gallery was the place to go to see an orgy of work by local artists until a fire destroyed its Southport location a few years back. Art/Place is now easing into its new home on Unquowa Road in Fairfield, but plenty of fine stuff from artists in Fairfield, New Haven and Westchester counties did not get a proper showing during the time it was out of commission. To make up for lost time, Art/Place is hosting a 25-artist show at the Wilton Library, which has all the variety and eclecticism you've come to expect from its brand. Wilton Library, 137 Old Ridgefield Rd., Wilton. Hours vary; exhibit lasts through Nov. 27. Free. (203) 762-3950, www.wiltonlibrary.org.

 
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20

50 Since
Cause for at least minor celebration, the rapping/high school English-teaching duo d_Cyphernauts are bringing their monthly hip-hop showcase, Enter the Cypher, to Cousin Larry's for the 50th time tonight. The show includes Mo Niklz (pictured) on the turntables and an "opening cypher" featuring Defnyshn live on the MPC (a music production tool used for its drum tracks and live sampling abilities). Teddy Faley, The Presence and Deto 22 will be performing tracks from their collaborative EP The Sharing Is Caring, which also features Sketch tha Cataclysm (who won't be present; he's in his new home turf of Minnesota). You can expect many other artists to take the stage, as this monthly showcase is at the center of the state's underground hip-hop scene. Sub Rosa Party, Cousin Larry's, 1 Elm St., Danbury. 9 p.m. $5. (203) 730-0035, www.subrosaparty.com.

Act out in Public
The Theatre Artists Workshop in Norwalk is one of the area's greatest assets for actors, directors and dramatists, helping them to hone their respective skills since 1983. But because it's mostly concerned with developing and not displaying talent, area theatergoers rarely get much direct benefit from having the workshop in their backyard. This weekend, however, it's staging its Playwrights Festival, an open house featuring three days of original scenes and one-act or full-length plays grown within the workshop's walls. Theatre Artists Workshop, Masonic Lodge, 5 Gregory Blvd., Norwalk. Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m. and Sun., 3 p.m. $15 per day. (203) 854-6830, www.taworkshop.org.

You Win, You Win; You lose, You Still Win
The Lost and Found film series at the Ridgefield Playhouse usually brings us documentaries, foreign flicks and movies unfairly lost to obscurity. So we were surprised to learn its latest pick is Raging Bull, the endlessly acclaimed, endlessly watched, endlessly quoted 1980 boxing classic that first brought together Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. Lost and Found does have a reason, though, for presenting this very found film (other than it's still fucking awesome). Cathy Moriarty, who played the suffering wife of De Niro's character, will be at the Playhouse to answer all your questions after the screening. Though her performance has been overshadowed by those of De Niro and Persci, Moriarty was nominated for an Oscar for it — and like the film itself, she was snubbed. Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge Rd., Ridgefield. 7:30 p.m. $10: $7.50 seniors; $5 students. (203) 438-5795, www.ridgefieldplayhouse.org.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 21

Local World
We're quite fond of the themed nights at the Acoustic Café. There's Bluegrass and Beer, featuring the stellar Bridgeport band Hoe, and Hump Night, in which we drink to celebrate Wednesday. The venue's latest is World Night, a survey of local acts with global styles. This week, the bill includes Arildo de Souza, an ever-gentle acoustic guitarist/singer/songwriter whose music is influenced by his native Brazil, and Rick Reyes (pictured) who usually fronts the local Latin juggernauts Cosmic Jibaros. Acoustic Café, 2926 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport. 8 p.m. (203) 335-3655, www.acousticafe.com.

SUNDAYNOVEMBER22

Street Streak
Mulberry Street is as much a tradition to Stamford as the oyster festival is to Norwalk, the soapbox derby is to Greenwich or the rigged election is to Bridgeport. The comedic play, about a quarrelling Italian-American family and their equally boisterous upstairs neighbors, debuted in the city in 1939 and was put on many times by local theater legend Al Pia from the '60s to the '90s. This year, Curtain Call is adding some holly and ivy to the old street. A Merry Mulberry Street Musical continues the story of Stamford's favorite guidos, with original new songs by local playwrights Jeffrey Lodin and William Squier (the latter of whom, full disclosure, writes all kinds of good stuff for the Weekly) and a script by Curtain Call executive director Lou Ursone. Expect neither peace on earth nor goodwill toward men. A silent night also doesn't seem likely. Curtain Call, Inc., Sterling Farms Theatre Complex, 1349 Newfield Ave., Stamford. Thu. to Sat., 8 p.m. and Sun., 2 p.m. through Dec. 20. $26; $18 for seniors; $13 for students and children. (203) 461-6358, www.curtaincallinc.com.

MONDAY NOVEMBER 23

Face the Fallen
Taking a break from his 10 years as an abstract artist, Bridgeport artist Peter Konsterlie has been dabbling in portraiture for the first time. Konsterile was Inspired by two chance encounters with Vietnam War subject matter, first in the form of a television program and later an old magazine article he stumbled upon. He began painting portraits of soldiers who died within a one-week period of the war based on photographs in the magazine. When a close friend died he was further inspired to start something new. "I didn't know how to paint portraits," Konsterile says. "I started thinking how their lives were cut short in a war that was unjust. I needed to paint them. It just flowed." Still with traces of his fluid, almost ghostly abstract work, the watercolor, gouache, pen and ink portraits bring warmth and personality to the subject of wartime death. The series, called One Week's Casualties, features 240 portraits which have been shown at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, N.D., and many of them now hang in the Bridgeport Public Library's new Black Rock Branch Library. Black Rock Branch Library, 2705 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport. Mon., Wed. & Fri., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tue. & Thu., noon to 8 p.m. through Dec. 18. (203) 337-9676, www.bportlibrary.org.

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 24

The French are Here to Save Us
One sponsor of Avon Theatre's series of French film screenings is the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, an actual division of France's diplomatic mission to the U.S. meant to "promote the best of French arts, literature, and education to cultural and academic institutions across the United States." We're guessing a couple of stranded Parisians heard one too man Trace Adkins songs and saw one too many episodes of How I Met Your Mother and decided something must be done. As part of that effort, the "Cultural Services" office is helping bring Mon Petit Doigt M'a Dit to the Avon tonight. It's director Pascal Thomas' 2005 adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel By the Pricking of My Thumbs, in which two middle-aged detectives (Catherine Frot and André Dussollier) find a case in the ramblings of an old woman. It's safe to come to the movies tonight, all you Europeans. No 18-wheelers will be turning into robots. Avon Theatre Film Center, 272 Bedford St., Stamford. 7 p.m. $10; $7 students and seniors. (203) 967-3660, www.avontheatre.org.

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25

Death and Skateboards
A near master of traditional visual arts (no computers), illustrator, painter and skateboard deck artist Shawn Beeks often mixes gruesome imagery with dark humor. Past works have shown a bullet-riddled birdhouse complete with dead bird, vomiting zombies watching TV and actual light switches covered in blood, as if from the scene of a murder. His current show at Day One Skateshop, Too Bad to be True, includes some of his usual work, as well as a glimpse at a new series of twisted interpretations of fairy tales, to be converted later into skateboard decks. Many would say a one-legged child walking through a minefield is disgusting and awful — Beeks does not. He pairs a highly detailed drawing of just that (pictured) with a child's nursery rhyme; "Little Betty Blue lost her holiday shoe... What can Little Betty do?" Day One Skate Shop, 605 Brewster St., Bridgeport. Tue. - Fri., noon to 7 p.m.; Sat., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sun., noon to 4 p.m. through Dec. 3. (203) 331-9525, www.dayoneskateshop.com.