08/28/2026
Local playwright Eric Mansfield will be on hand for our upcoming reading of his play, 5'2, EYES OF BLUE, this coming Sunday at 6:30 pm.
Buy your tickets at this link: https://pci.jotform.com/form/261745172087158
Eric Mansfield (he/him) is a former Emmy Award-winning TV Journalist (WKYC-Cleveland), retired U.S. Army Officer, current PR professional, and Dramatists Guild member who continues his passion for storytelling through playwriting and other
creative outlets.
5’2, EYES OF BLUE received a community reading with Stow Players in March 2025, and was produced at Songang University, South Korea one month later. Originally drafted during an MFA workshop, this play is one of 20 full-length plays Eric has written for the stage. This is the second of Eric’s plays to be brought to life within the Akron Civic Theater’s creative spaces following the 2022 production of WHITESVILLE on the Knight Stage in conjunction with the Millennial Theatre Project. The production received strong media coverage with its focus on a mixed-race, police family struggling with the murder of George Floyd.
Recent productions of Eric’s plays include EXECUTING EVE, CEMETERY CALLING and HOME MOVIE at Convergence Continuum in Cleveland, TRIAL BY FIRE both at Kent State University and Akron’s Firestone High School, WHITESVILLE at Open Door
Playhouse in Los Angeles and BARON OF BROWN STREET at Rubber City Theatre in Akron.
Eric’s work can next be seen on stage with the military drama, LOVE IN RESERVE, directed by Dane Leasure, playing Nov. 6-15 via Makeshift Theatre at Coach House in Akron.
Recognition: The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. recognized Eric with the 2023 Jean Kennedy Smith National Playwriting Award for BARON OF BROWN STREET. He received the “Best New Play by a Local Playwright” Award in 2022 from the Cleveland Critics Circle and received the Arts Alive Award for the Emerging Artist by Summit Artspace in Akron, OH. His short plays have been performed in New York, Ohio, Boston, and Pennsylvania.
Licensing information for some of Eric’s plays is available on NextStagePress.com and Ghostlight Publications, and copies can also be purchased at Amazon.com and at retail outlets, including the Drama Book Shop in New York City.
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. Born in Akron, Ohio, Eric earned his M.F.A. in Playwrighting and his M.A. in Public Relations from Kent State. He also earned a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Dayton.
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.
Learn more about Eric’s work at www.ericmansfieldwrites.com.
