A library on the U.S.-Canada border takes on an unexpected new role in 'A Distinct Society'

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Actors from left, Vaneh Assadourian, Kenny Scott, Carrie Paff, James Rana and Daniel Allitt play characters from different countries and cultural backgrounds brought together in a library that stands on the border between the U.S. and Canada in Kareem Fahmy’s new play, “A Distinct Society.” Courtesy Michaela Vatcheva.

Libraries have evolved to become not only a place for books, but also a reliable third place for community members to come together for family events, workshops and other programs. For a time just a few years ago, a library that sits on the border between the United States and Canada became a place for a different type of community gathering, where loved ones separated by the U.S.’ Muslim Travel Ban could — briefly — reunite.

Playwright Kareem Fahmy took inspiration for his new play, “A Distinct Society,” from reading news stories about those meetings at the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, which is located in both Derby Line, Vermont, and Stanstead, Quebec.

“A Distinct Society” makes its world premiere at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley in partnership with the Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Utah. The play opens April 8 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. Giovanna Sardelli directs.

Fahmy had long known of the Haskell Free Library’s unique border location, having grown up in Sherbrooke, Quebec, less than an hour’s drive from the library, but said he hadn’t ever visited.

“It’s kind of an amazing story. When I read (about) it, I was thinking ‘this is my backyard.’ A lot of the articles I read were primarily about people from the Middle East, my family is Middle Eastern immigrants. So it just seemed like the perfect story for me to tell,” Fahmy said.

After the Trump Administration enacted an executive order in 2017 that came to be known as the “Muslim Ban,” barring entry to the U.S. by citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries — and which later expanded to include more countries — word of the Haskell Free Library spread, drawing people who were hoping to reunite, even for just a few hours, with loved ones they couldn’t otherwise see in person.

Although “A Distinct Society” is based on real events, the characters we meet in the play are all Fahmy’s creations — a group of five people from different countries and cultural backgrounds.

James Rana plays Peyman, a cardiac surgeon who has traveled
from Iran to the library to see his daughter, Shirin, (played by Vaneh
Assadourian), a medical student going to school in the U.S. Courtesy Michaela Vatcheva. — James Rana plays Peyman, a cardiac surgeon who has traveled from Iran to the library to see his daughter, Shirin, (played by Vaneh Assadourian), a medical student going to school in the U.S. Courtesy Michaela Vatcheva.

“I wanted to create a fictional world. I didn’t want to use someone else’s stories. All of the characters in the play are highly fictionalized. None of them are inspired by any specific people,” Fahmy said. “And I’ve taken certain creative liberties with the situation, the geography. So really, it was mostly thinking about this place and thinking about the events that took place there (that) activated my imagination in terms of what would be the most dramatic story to tell.”

In the play, members of an Iranian family aim to reconnect at the library, with cardiac surgeon Peyman (James Rana), having traveled from Iran to see his daughter, Shirin (Vaneh Assadourian), who has been going to medical school in the U.S.

Navigating the difficult balance between handling regular library services and trying to accommodate the library’s new visitors is Québécoise librarian Manon (Carrie Paff). She has struck up a friendship with Bruce (Kenny Scott), a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer tasked with enforcing border rules in a building that was meant to unite citizens from the U.S. and Canada.

Rounding out the cast is Declan (Daniel Allitt), a teenager who’s recently moved with his family from Northern Ireland and finds refuge in the library reading graphic novels.

Librarian Manon is an opera enthusiast, a passion that Fahmy said was inspired by the fact that the Haskell Free Library is also home to an opera house, where audiences, seated on both sides of the border, can watch performances taking place on a stage located in Canada.

“The idea that this building was created for the cultural health and well-being of the local community, which is both American and Canadian, that’s really the spirit on which it was founded, that it would be shared between the people in Vermont and people in Quebec. So I love that idea that the building is steeped in stories — literary stories, operatic stories and music,” he said.

Carrie Paff, Vaneh Assadourian, James Rana, and Kenny Scott in TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's World Premiere of — Carrie Paff, Vaneh Assadourian, James Rana, and Kenny Scott in TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s World Premiere of “A Distinct Society.” Courtesy Michaela Vatcheva.

“A Distinct Society” was developed in part at TheatreWorks’ New Works Festival in 2021, with performances presented online. Though the pandemic slowed the play’s development, Fahmy said, it also gave him a chance to work with a number of actors, directors and theater companies on the show, and narrow the focus on characters and themes that go beyond the events captured in the play.

“It’s really about these characters. The way (the play) has grown the most is deepening my understanding of who these people are — what makes them tick, what it is that is universal in the story,” Fahmy said.

TheatreWorks presents “A Distinct Society” April 8-30 (with previews April 5-7) at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. Tickets start at $30. For more information. Visit theatreworks.org or call 877-662-8978.