February 28th at 4 pm: Dolor y Gloria

ECU's Foreign Film Festival Finale in ECU's Estep Multimedia Center!

It's free!

Door Prizes include books about Spain, books by Spanish authors,, Spanish gourmet chocolates, and a Grand Prix featuring: Russian chocolate, French caramels, a Spanish nougat bar, and gift certificates to Papa Gjorgjo's, Asahi Japanese Hibachi and Sushi Bar, and Potrillo's Mexican restaurant!

Today at 4: Rezo!

In the Estep! Free!

Door prizes includes Russian chocolate, comic memoirs, books, and baklava, freshly baked by ECU's Dr. Darcy Tessman!

February 12: Small Island

Leah Harvey and Shiloh Coke Photograph by Brinkhoff Moegenberg.

Andrea Levy’s Orange Prize-winning novel Small Island comes to life in an epic new theatre adaptation that will be presented February 12th at 2 PM at the Raymond J. Estep Multimedia Center. The recorded live production is open to the public and tickets are $10 for community members. Tickets for ECU students are $5.

Small Island takes audiences on a journey from Jamaica to Britain, through the Second World War to 1948 – the year the HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury. The drama traces the tangled history of Jamaica and the UK through three intricately connected stories: Hortense yearns for a new life away from rural Jamaica; Gilbert dreams of becoming a lawyer; and Queenie longs to escape her Lincolnshire roots. Hope and humanity meet stubborn reality in this timely and moving drama that features a company of 40 actors on the stage of the London’s National Theatre.

Director Rufus Norris leads an “effortlessly enjoyable production” that “speaks to all of us, today” (Metro). The “resonant, funny and moving” production (Daily Telegraph) is “one of the most important plays of the year” (Guardian), starring Leah Harvey, Gershwyn Eustace Jr, Aisling Loftus and CJ Beckford.

National Theatre Live is a groundbreaking project to broadcast the best of British theatre to cinemas around the world. Small Island has a runtime of 170 minutes, which includes a 20-minute interval. The production contains strobe-like effects, and, as part of depicting the experience of Jamaican immigrants to Britain after the Second World War, at times characters in the play use language which is racially offensive. The production has a BBFC rating of “As Live 15,” which is roughly analogous to an “R” rating from the MPAA.

Following this performance, ECU SCREENS will host ECU’s 10th annual Foreign Film Festival. The festival launches at 4pm on Friday, February 14th with a screening of the French romantic comedy Return of the Hero (Le Retour du heros), a delightful screwball farce set in France during the Napoleonic era.

Prior to the screening, the public is invited to attend an event titled “Ask Me About the World,” featuring international ECU students and faculty who will be sharing stories and answering questions about their home countries, including India, Nepal, Ghana, South Korea, and the Bahamas.

“Ask Me About the World” will also feature foods, music, and books which students have chosen to represent their home countries.

The Foreign Film Festival will continue with a Russian-language film Rezo at 4 PM on Friday, February 21st and will conclude at 4 PM on Friday, February 28th with the Spanish-language film Pain and Glory (Dolor y Gloria). All Foreign Film Festival events are free and open to the public, and door prizes will be given away after each screening.

To learn more about ECU SCREENS, like the ECU SCREENS Facebook page. For more information about the National Theatre in Great Britain and the National Theatre Live screenings, visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/. Dr. Steve Benton, co-director of ECU SCREENS, may be contacted at (580) 559-5877 or sbenton@ecok.edu.

January 29: The Lehman Lesson

The Lehman Trilogy (dir. Sam Mendes). Starring Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley, Ben Miles. Photo by Stephanie Berger.

At 11 AM on Wednesday, January 29th, ECU Screens will host "The Lehman Lesson," featuring a panel discussion of the global financial crisis of 2008 and the role played by the Lehman Brothers in that crisis. Speakers will include: Oklahoma native Marran Ogilvie, who served as an Advisor to the Creditors Committee for the Lehman Brothers International (Europe) Administration, a position she held from 2008 to 2018; Jim Hamby, President of Vision Bank in Ada; and Profs. James Rauch and Michael Scott of ECU’s Harland C. Stonecipher School of Business.

Following this discussion, ECU Screens will present the National Theatre Live production of The Lehman Trilogy, which dramatizes the epic rise and fall of the financial firm whose collapse into bankruptcy triggered the largest financial crisis in history. The screening will begin at 1 PM.

"The Lehman Lesson "will be held in ECU's Raymond J. Estep Multimedia Center. It is open to the public.  Admission to the talk is free; tickets to The Lehman Trilogy will cost $10; $5 for ECU students.

The Lehman Trilogy follows the history of the Lehman family and their financial firm, beginning on a cold September morning in 1844, with a young man from Bavaria standing on a New York dockside, dreaming of a new life in the new world. He is joined by his two brothers and an American epic begins.163 years later, the firm they establish spectacularly collapses into bankruptcy.

Academy Award-winner Sam Mendes (1917, American Beauty, Skyfall) directs Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley and Ben Miles, who play the Lehman Brothers, their sons and grandsons.

This critically acclaimed and five-time Olivier Award nominated play features stunning set design from Es Devlin (NT Live: Hamlet) and was filmed live in London’s West End as part of National Theatre Live’s 10th Birthday season.

The production has been praised as “a spellbinding exercise in storytelling” (Washington Post) and “a powerful, thought-provoking play” (Independent).

The Lehman Trilogy will be playing on-stage at the Nederlander Theatre in New York from 7 March 2020. Click here for more information.

The Lehman Trilogy has a runtime of 240 minutes with 2 intermissions. During the first intermission, ECU Screens will be providing free ice cream to audience members. The Lehman Trilogy has a BBFC rating of 12A, which is roughly analogous to a PG-13 rating from the MPAA.

2020 Spring Season

All films will be screened in the Raymond J. Estep Multimedia Center located inside the Bill S. Cole University Center (near the corner of E. 13th Street and South Francis) on the campus of East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma.

Tickets are available at the door.



Friday, January 17 at 6:30 p.m.
THE TRAGEDY OF KING RICHARD THE SECOND
By William Shakespeare; directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins
Rating: UK, “As Live 12A”. US - Treat as PG-13
Run time: 115 minutes
General admission: $10; free for ECU students


Wednesday, January 29 at 1:00 pm
THE LEHMAN TRILOGY
By Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power, directed by Sam Mendes
Rating: UK, “As Live 12A”. US - Treat as PG-13
Run time: 240 minutes
General admission: $10; $5 for ECU students


Wednesday, February 12 at 2:00 pm
SMALL ISLAND
Adapted by Helen Edmundson, based on the novel by Andrea Levy
Rating: UK, “As Live 12A”. US - Treat as PG-13
Run time: 170 minutes
General admission: $10; $5 for ECU students


Friday, February 14 at 4:00 pm.
THE RETURN OF THE HERO (France)
Directed by Laruent Tirard
No Rating
Run time: 90 minutes
Free and open to the public

Friday, February 21 at 4:00 pm
REZO (The Republic of Georgia)

Also "Tweet Tweet" (Short)
No Rating

Run time: 73 minutes

Free and open to the public

Friday, February 28 at 4:00 pm
PAIN AND GLORY (Spain)
Directed by Pedro Almodovar
Rating: R
Run time: 113 minutes
Free and open to the public


Friday, March 27 at 6:30 pm
ALL MY SONS
By Arthur Miller, directed by Jeremy Herrin
Rating: UK, “As Live 12A”. US - Treat as PG-13
Run time: 165 minutes
General admission: $10; $5 for ECU students


Friday, May 1 at 6:30 pm
HANSARD
A new play by Sam Woods
Rating: UK, “As Live 12A”. US - Treat as PG-13
Run time: 80 minutes
General admission: $10; $5 for ECU students

Spring Season kicks off with Shakespeare's King Richard the II

Simon Russell Beale and company in The Tragedy of King Richard the Second (Photo by Marc Brenner)

The Tragedy of King Richard the Second, National Theatre Live’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard II will launch the spring season for ECU SCREENS on Friday, January 17th at 6:30 PM. The screening will be in the Raymond J. Estep Multimedia Center of the Bill S. Cole University Center. The recorded live production is open to the public and tickets are $10 for community members. ECU students receive free admission, sponsored by ECU SCREENS.

This visceral new production about the limits of power stars Simon Russell Beale as the irresponsible, foolish and vain king of England whose weak leadership sends his kingdom into disarray and his court into uproar. Seeing no other option but to seize power, the ambitious Bolingbroke challenges the throne and the king’s divine right to rule.

Adapted to a brisk 100 minutes, this bold retelling of Richard II features a stripped-back and contemporary aesthetic. In the title role, “Simon Russell Beale proves himself our foremost Shakespearean actor” (Independent) in a “timely portrait of a country in chaos” (Evening Standard).
National Theatre Live is a groundbreaking project to broadcast the best of British theatre to cinemas around the world. The Tragedy of King Richard the Second has a BBFC rating of 12A, which is roughly analogous to a PG-13 rating from the MPAA.+

The spring season will continue with two special events in January and February. At 11 AM on Wednesday, January 29th, Profs. Joe Dougherty, James Rauch, and Michael Scott of ECU’s Harland C. Stonecipher School of Business and special guest Marran Ogilvie, an Oklahoma native who rose to executive positions on Wall Street in the 2000s, will discuss the role played by the Lehman Brothers financial services firm in the global financial crisis of 2008. Following these presentations, ECU SCREENS will present the National Theatre Live production of The Lehman Trilogy, which dramatizes the epic rise and fall of the financial firm whose spectacular collapse into bankruptcy trigged the largest financial crisis in history. The screening will begin at 1 PM. A limited number of tickets to this event, which will be held in the Raymond J. Estep Multimedia Center, will be made available to the general public. To make a reservation, email ECU SCREENS co-director, Dr. Steve Benton at sbenton@ecok.edu.

On February 12th at 2:00 PM, the ECU SCREENS spring season will continue with National Theatre Live epic new theatre adaptation of Small Island, based on Andrea Levy’s Orange-Prize winning novel about Jamaican immigrants to Britain in the 1940s.

Later in February, ECU SCREENS will host ECU’s 10th annual Foreign Film Festival. The festival launches at 4pm on Friday, February 14th with a screening of the French comedy Return of the Hero (Le Retour du hero). Return of the Hero showcases the comedic talents of two of France’s biggest stars, Academy Award winner Jean Dujardin and César winner Mélanie Laurent, in a hilarious confrontation over gender roles, honesty, and good storytelling. Seasoned with a timely streak of feminism, this zesty period piece is one of the most intelligent entertainments in recent French cinema.

Prior to the screening, the public is invited to attend an event titled “Ask Me About the World,” featuring international ECU students and faculty who will be sharing stories and answering questions about their home countries.

The Foreign Film Festival will continue with a Russian-language film at 4 PM on Friday, February 21st and will conclude at 4 PM on Friday, February 28th with the Spanish-language film Pain and Glory (Dolor y Gloria) directed by Pedro Almodóvar and featuring Antonio Banderas, whose performance recently earned him a nomination for this year’s Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role..

The ECU SCREENS season will resume at 6:30 PM on Friday, March 27th with the National Theatre Live production of Arthur Miller’s blistering drama All My Sons, starring Sally Fields and Bill Pullman. The spring season will then conclude at 6:30 PM on Friday, May 1st with the brand-new play Hansard, a witty and devastating portrait of Britain’s governing class also produced by National Theatre Live.

To learn more about ECU SCREENS, like the ECU SCREENS Facebook page. For more information about the National Theatre in Great Britain and the National Theatre Live screenings, visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/. Dr. Steve Benton, co-director of ECU SCREENS, may be contacted at (580) 559-5877 or sbenton@ecok.edu.

December 3 at 7: Fleabag

Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Fleabag. Photo by Mark Humphrey.

ECU SCREENS finishes its fall season with Fleabag, the hilarious, award-winning, one-woman show that inspired the hit BBC/Netflix series starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge, on Tuesday, December 3rd at 7:00 PM. The screening will be in the Raymond J. Estep Multimedia Center of the Bill S. Cole University Center. The recorded live production is open to the public and tickets are $10 for community members. Tickets for ECU students are $5.

Written and performed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Killing Eve), Fleabag is a rip-roaring look at “some sort of woman” living her “sort of life.” Fleabag may seem oversexed, emotionally unfiltered and self-obsessed, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. With family and friendships under strain and a guinea pig café struggling to keep afloat, Fleabag suddenly finds herself with nothing to lose.

Playing to sold-out audiences in New York and London, Fleabag has been deemed a “legitimately hilarious show” by the New Yorker. Other reviews agree that Phoebe Waller-Bridge is “funny, vibrant and blunt as a hammerhead” (New York Magazine), and her storytelling is “quirky and original” (Guardian).

The runtime for Fleabag is 67 minutes. The BBFCA has given the production a rating of 15—higher than “PG-13,” but not an “R” rating—as the play contains strong language, sex references, references to sexual harassment.

NT Live is the National Theatre's groundbreaking project to broadcast the best of British theatre to cinemas around the world. ECU SCREENS will open its spring season with William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of King Richard the Second on January 17th at 6:30 PM.

To learn more about ECU SCREENS, like the ECU SCREENS Facebook page. For more information about the National Theatre in Great Britain and the National Theatre Live screenings, visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/. Dr. Steve Benton, co-director of ECU SCREENS, may be contacted at (580) 559-5877 or sbenton@ecok.edu.