Akron library to host reading of local playwright Eric Mansfield's play about banned books

Akron playwright Eric Mansfield's latest drama, "Trial by Fire," explores the growing debate over books being banned across the country.

The play will receive a free, public reading at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Akron Main Library auditorium at 60 S. High St. Francine Parr of Millennial Theatre Project will direct actors from the company in the reading.

In Mansfield's drama, Georgia, a young English teacher at a private prep school in northern Ohio, comes under fire after allowing her women's studies students access to books from the state's new "banned" list. She's at risk of losing her job as she faces pressure from a disciplinary review board, angry parents and Ohio's governor.

Mansfield has workshopped parts of "Trial by Fire" with members of the MFA playwriting program at Cleveland State University and Kent State University, where he's getting his master's degree. Attendees at the Akron reading Thursday will have the opportunity to give feedback on the play's story as well as the growing debate in the United States on banned books.

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Banned book statistics

Mansfield shared that the American Library Association saw a record number of banned book requests last year across the country: 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, including a record 2,571 unique titles. That compares to 729 challenges and 1,858 unique titles targeted in 2021.

"This reinforces to me that this play is timely for discussions about access, especially for our young people," Mansfield said. "The number of weekly stories of librarians quitting or about newly banned books targeting people of color and the LGBTQ+ community just astounds me."

In April, the American Library Association announced the top 13 most challenged books in the United States in 2022. Here's the list:

1. "Gender Queer: A Memoir" by Maia Kobabe, 151 challenges

2. "All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson, 86 challenges

3. "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison, 73 challenges

4. "Flamer" by Mike Curato, 62 challenges

5. (tie) "Looking for Alaska" by John Green, 55 challenges

5. (tie) "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky, 55 challenges

7. "Lawn Boy" by Jonathan Evison, 54 challenges

8. "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie, 52 challenges

9. "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Perez, 50 challenges

10. (tie) "A Court of Mist and Fury" by Sarah J. Maas, 48 challenges

10. (tie) "Crank" by Ellen Hopkins, 48 challenges

10. (tie) "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" by Jesse Andrews, 48 challenges

10. (tie) "This Book Is Gay" by Juno Dawson, 48 challenges

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Mansfield's goal is to find a local partner to produce "Trial by Fire." Millennial Theatre Project is interested in programming the play for 2025. He'd also like to collaborate with a local partner for another reading of the play during Banned Books Week Oct. 1-7.

For more information about Thursday's "Trial by Fire" reading, see services.akronlibrary.org/event/8421356 or call 330-643-9000.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Banned books focus of Mansfield drama to have reading at Akron library