Firestone students tackle local playwright Mansfield's 'Trial by Fire' about book banning
In the drama "Trial by Fire," pressure mounts for high school women's studies teacher Georgia Grimes, who's in hot water with angry parents, a disciplinary board and the governor for allowing her students to access books from her state's new "banned" list.
Akron playwright Eric Mansfield's play, set at a private school in northern Ohio, will have its world premiere Thursday through Sunday at Firestone Community Learning Center's Firestone Theatre. Performances will run at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at 470 Castle Blvd., Akron.
Mansfield's goal in writing the play was to explore the real-life threat of book banning in schools. His inspiration for the play's young teacher comes from the real-life case of Summer Boismier, a teacher in Oklahoma who was run out of her state in 2022 for covering newly banned books in her classroom and giving students a QR code to find the books.
Boismier, who received death threats, faced an Oklahoma' state superintendent who tried to get her teaching license revoked. She moved to New York to work at a library where students still have access to books.
"I think what Summer did was heroic and I would have welcomed her to teach my children. What happened to her could certainly happen to a young teacher in Ohio too," Mansfield said by email.
In "Trial by Fire," five of Grimm's students rally around her to fight to save her job and reputation. In the process, the girls learn how to stand up for what they believe in.
Firestone's cast, directed by Elynmarie Kazle in the black box theater, includes Naja Williams as Georgia Grimes and Anderson Rambler as 11th-hour mediator Dan Shaw. Playing the students are Tamirah Coleman, Jordan Benjamin, Cecilia Bailey, Macy Garver-Hughes, Alexa Bird, Maggie Vollman and Izzy Eastman. Two of the student roles are doubled.
Mansfield wrote "Trial by Fire" as part of his graduate work at Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts (NEOMFA) at Kent State University, where he also works as a public relations professional. Firestone is producing the play's world premiere after it went through a summer developmental workshop with Millennial Theatre Project in Akron and a staged reading at Firestone in August.
"Elynmarie Kazle and the cast are doing amazing work and I think the play will hit home with students and adults," Mansfield said of the world premiere.
Cost for the show is $10. See akron.booktix.com or call 330-761-3275.
A free pre-show discussion with cast and production team members will be at 6:15 p.m. Thursday in Firestone's learning resource center. A post-show talk-back also will be held in the auditorium following the final performance Sunday.
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Future plans, productions for Mansfield
Mansfield also hopes to find partners in Florida and Texas to mount "Trial by Fire," since those states have seen the most growth in banned and challenged books.
In news on Mansfield's other recent plays, his drama "Whitesville," which focuses on race, will be part of Open Door Theatre's Black History Month series in Los Angeles. His new drama "Cemetery Calling," set in Cleveland's Lake View Cemetery, will open Feb. 22 at Convergence Continuum.
Further down the road, his "Baron of Brown Street," a play based on a true Akron story that had its world premiere in September at Rubber City Theatre, will be produced in the spring at Lakeland Community College.
"Four plays at four theaters at once is pretty much beyond my wildest expectations as a playwright and it's exciting to work with so many creative directors and artists," Mansfield said.
Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Firestone tackles book banning threat with Mansfield's 'Trial by Fire'
