Experience the finest of English drama without traveling thousands of miles as ECU SCREENS presents three Royal National Theatre recorded-live stage performances this fall.
The screenings range from classic literary masterpieces to popular contemporary works. All are open to the public.
The first screening, a British classic entitled “Everyman,” is set for Friday, Oct. 2, at 6:30 p.m. in the Raymond J. Estep Multimedia Center at the Bill S. Cole University Center. Each screening is $5 for students and $10 for members of the community. The new projection equipment in the Estep Multimedia Center provides for a high-quality screening.
The Royal National Theatre in London began under the estimable Laurence Olivier. Their productions are “shatteringly powerful” (Independent), “viscerally exciting and stunning” (Daily Telegraph) and “dazzlingly inventive” (Evening Standard).
National Theatre Live (NT Live) is the Royal National Theatre’s groundbreaking project to broadcast the best in British theater to cinemas around the world. NT Live productions feature legendary actors like Benedict Cumberbatch, Helen Mirren, Derek Jacobi and Kenneth Branagh.
“Audience response to ECU SCREENS in our first year was deeply gratifying to all of us who worked so hard to bring these cinematic events to our community. I feel like Ada has scored season tickets to the premier events on the world stage today,” said Dr. Steve Benton, director of ECU’s Honors Program, associate professor in ECU’s Department of English and Languages and co-director of ECU SCREENS. “And the price of these tickets is almost too low to be believed. Anyone who appreciates theatre is going to be blown away by many of these historic productions.”
Here is a look at the fall season:
*“Everyman” screens on Thursday, Oct. 2 at 6:30 p.m. BAFTA winner and Academy Award® nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) takes the title role in this dynamic new production of one of English drama’s oldest plays, directed by the National Theatre’s new director Rufus Norris (Broken, London Road). Critics hail Chiwetel Ejiofor’s performance as “remarkable” (Guardian), “excellent” (The Times), and “magnificent” (Financial Times).
*“Hamlet” screens on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 2 p.m. Academy Award® nominee Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC’s Sherlock, The Imitation Game, Frankenstein at the National Theatre) takes on the title role of Shakespeare’s great tragedy. As Hamlet, “Benedict Cumberbatch exudes charisma and intelligence” (Evening Standard). Time Out calls it, “[o]ne of the most visually and atmospherically stunning productions . . . ever.”
*“The Hard Problem” screens on Monday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. and will be followed at 3:15 p.m. by an “Honors Presents the Sciences” panel discussion of the very mind-brain problem alluded to in the title. The expert panel will feature ECU faculty representing the departments of Biology, Philosophy and Pschology. Hilary, a young psychology researcher at a brain science institute, is nursing a private sorrow and a troubling question at work, where psychology and biology meet. If there is nothing but matter, what is consciousness? This is ‘the hard problem’ which puts Hilary at odds with her colleagues. “The Hard Problem” is “[i]ntellectually charged” and “pulses with interesting ideas” (Evening Standard).
In the spring, ECU SCREENS will host ECU’s Foreign Film Festival (free films on Friday in February at 4 p.m.) as well as Royal National Theatre Live productions of the Beaux Stratagem, an original adaptation of Jane Eyre; Shakespeare’s Coriolanus and, on April 23, the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death, his popular comedy, “As You Like It.”
ECU SCREENS collaborates with Sigma Tau Delta and the Honors Student Association to bring our community memorable cinematic experiences. To learn more about ECU SCREENS, like our Facebook page or visit www.ecuscreens.blogspot.com. For more information about NT Live screenings, visit ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/. Contact Dr. Rebecca Nicholson-Weir, co-director of ECU SCREENS, at (580) 559-5929 or rnichlsn@ecok.edu for more information.
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