Mark Ruffalo, Wally Lamb to host screenings of ‘I Know This Much Is True’ on the Garde’s giant screen

Mark Ruffalo and Derek Cianfrance, the star and director of the TV miniseries “I Know This Much Is True,” will join Connecticut-based novelist Wally Lamb, who wrote the book on which the series is based, for a special September screening at the Garde Arts Center in New London.

The six-episode series will be shown over three nights: Sept. 21-23 at 7 p.m. on the Garde’s 41-by-25-foot screen. Lamb will appear at all three screenings. Ruffalo and Cianfrance will take part in post-show discussions on Sept. 22 and 23.

Ruffalo plays twin brothers in the series, which also stars Melissa Leo, John Procaccino, Rob Huebel, Juliette Lewis, Yale (now Geffen) School of Drama grad Kathryn Hahn, Rosie O’Donnell, Imogen Poots, Archie Panjabi, Harris Yulin and others.

The “I Know This Much is True” series debuted on HBO in 2020 and is still available to watch on the HBO Max streaming channel, but “I don’t know if it’s ever been shown on a big screen before,” says the Garde Arts Center’s Executive Director Steve Sigel.

The Garde’s “I Know This Much is True” screenings have been in the works for months, Sigel says. “We actually starting talking about it two years ago, hoping to premiere it.”

Sigel says the theater considered screening the series over two nights instead of three but “it’s a heavy movie to begin with, and when you add a Q&A to that, it’s a lot.” Each episode lasts about an hour, except for the sixth episode, which clocks in at 76 minutes.

Like many of Lamb’s works, “I Know This Much is True” takes place in Connecticut. The plot concerns twin brothers Dominick and Thomas Birdsey, both played by Ruffalo. Dominick must help Thomas handle his struggles with paranoid schizophrenia, including a horrific act of political protest.

Ruffalo is currently reprising his best-known movie role — as the Incredible Hulk — in the new Disney+ series “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.” His dozens of movies include “The Kids Are All Right,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “The Normal Heart,” “Infinitely Polar Bear,” and “Begin Again,” and his live theater credits include the original off Broadway production of the iconic teen drama “This Is Our Youth” and a recent Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s “The Price.”

Cianfrance is not just “I Know This Much is True”'s director but co-wrote its screenplay. His other directing credits include “The Light Between Oceans,” “The Place Beyond the Pines,” “Blue Valentines” and several documentaries including “Black and White: A Portrait of Sean Combs.”

The Garde opened in 1926 as a movie palace. Besides hosting touring Broadway shows and live concerts the theater still regularly shows movies, from recent mainstream Hollywood hits to touring indie film festivals. It has hosted special guests for film screenings on many occasions, from “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” in 2001 hosted by the musical’s composer (and area native) Stephen Trask to a 2020 showing of “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” featuring its star William Shatner.

The Garde has presented Wally Lamb projects before, including the world premiere of the film version of his “Wishin’ and Hopin’” in 2014.

Lamb, who grew up in Norwich, actually used the Garde — and the ghosts that haunt it — as key elements in his novel “I’ll Take You There,” which was published in 2016.

“We call Wally our resident novelist,” Sigel says. He says that Cianfrance also has local connections.

Last month the Garde Arts Center was awarded the 2022 Outstanding Historic Theatre Award from the League of Historic American Theatres. The theater is letting its patrons share in the honor by holding an “Award-Sharing Ceremony” at the theater Aug. 25 at 7 p.m.

“I Know This Much Is True will be shown Sept. 21 to 23 at 7 p.m. at the Garde’s Arts Center in New London. Tickets are $24 on Sept. 21 and $48 on Sept. 22 and 23, with a 25% discount if attending all three nights. More information at gardearts.org.

Christopher Arnott can be reached at carnott@courant.com.