Eric Mansfield

Playwright

Eric (he/him/his) is an Emmy Award-Winning TV Journalist, Retired Army Officer, current PR professional and Dramatist Guild member who is continuing his passion for storytelling through playwriting and other creative outlets.

Latest Awards: The Kennedy Center recently recognized Eric with the Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award - Second Place - for his original full-length play, BARON OF BROWN STREET, which is inspired by the true story of a homeless man's struggle with forgiveness after surviving an attack in which he was intentionally set on fire. This play opens in September via Rubber City Theatre in Akron, OH.

Latest news: Eric's one-act family drama, HOME MOVIE, recently completed a one-weekend run at Convergence-Continuum in Cleveland, and his full-length gritty story of forgiveness, BARON OF BROWN STREET, opens in the black box at the University of Akron in September via support from Rubber City Theatre.

Eric is seeking development opportunities for his current Work in Progress, TRIAL BY FIRE, which chronicles a young teacher who is put on trial for allowing her students to read banned books; the first 20 pages is available to review here on NPX.

Eric's first full-length play, LOVE IN RESERVE, debuted on Nov. 5, 2021, as a mainstage Equity production at Rubber City Theatre in Akron, Ohio. This play was previously named a 2020 national semi-finalist for the Bridge Award from Arts in the Armed Forces, and the play's production earned Eric the "Best New Play from a Local Playwright Award" from Cleveland Critics Circle for 2021.

In addition, Eric's full-length play WHITESVILLE debuted on March 31, 2022, at the Akron Civic Theatre's Knight Stage in conjunction with the Millennial Theatre Project.

A few months later, Eric received the "Emerging Artist Award" for 2022 from Arts Alive in Akron, OH followed by a two week run of WITNESSES TO THE EXECUTION at SUNY-Brockport as part of the Festival of X.

Some of Eric's other works have been staged in Cleveland, Boston, Western PA and various college settings. Eric's short plays have been read at the Mid-American Theater Conference and various online festivals.

Eric's inspiration comes from his own life experiences either from being deployed with the military or from being a front-line TV News journalist in Cleveland, Ohio. He considers himself a modern dramatist writing contemporary stories with intelligent characters in the style of such playwrights as Aaron Sorkin.

Born in Akron, Ohio, Eric earned his B.A. in Journalism from the University of Dayton and his M.A. in Public Relations from Kent State University. He is currently pursuing his MFA in Creative Writing (Playwrighting) from Kent State.

A 20-year career as a broadcast news anchor-reporter (18 of those years with WKYC-TV) concurrent with 20 years of service in the Ohio Army National Guard, including deployments to Iraq and other hotspots, gives Eric a unique life experience to share as a creative writer.