portrait by Talia Hodge
When then-journalist Eric Mansfield interviewed Lenny King, his story was front-page news. Pulled from his tent under an Akron bridge in 2007, King was beaten, shot and set on fire. He survived — and forgave his attackers.
“It just wouldn’t let me go,” says Mansfield, a 55-year-old Akron resident. “I met this guy for one day, and it stayed with me the rest of my life.”
Forgiveness resonated with him. Born in North Akron to a blue-collar family, Mansfield’s older brother was shot and killed at 17 — a tragedy that triggered his grandmother’s fatal heart attack. Wanting a fresh start, he joined the Army to pay for his higher education at the University of Dayton. Mansfield graduated with journalism and broadcasting degrees, married his high school sweetheart, Lisa, and began working as a journalist for WKYC in Cleveland — all while deploying to Central America, the Middle East and other areas.
Mansfield has interviewed U.S. presidents, went weightless with NASA and more. It was exciting — but took him away from his family. Aiming to settle down, Mansfield began working at Kent State University in 2012, where his lifelong passion for storytelling intensified.
“As I started to have kids and Lisa went to work for Weathervane Playhouse, we started to see a lot more theater,” Mansfield says. “You meet a lot of interesting people as a journalist. You meet a lot of interesting people as a soldier. Between those two … I thought, I could write things like this.”
He began writing short plays and building off the fiction he wrote while deployed in Iraq. That material grew into one of his first plays, “Love in Reserve,” the story of a military couple’s separation. Before sending it out, Mansfield invited friends over for a living room reading.
“Being a playwright is like building a race car,” Mansfield says. “You sit in the stands while someone else drives. You know every bolt in that car, but you are not in control.”
“Love in Reserve” won awards — including one from actor Adam Driver’s military arts nonprofit, Arts in the Armed Forces. It premiered in 2021 at Akron’s Rubber City Theatre, with professional actor Paige Felger portraying military wife Kate.
“One of the great things that Eric does is he writes these complex women, and unfortunately, that’s rare,” says Felger.
She says Mansfield was very involved in the production — available for questions at rehearsals. He even brought in props culled from his own military experience, including an overseas letter from Lisa.
“Before every show, I would read it,” Felger says. “You feel her apprehension and her fear, but also her deep love for him. … That’s what Eric provides, is that level of personal engagement, generosity and kindness.”
Next came “Whitesville” inspired by police violence, then “Home Movie,” about siblings deciding whether to keep a family secret. Mansfield has had 15 plays produced, eight at full length. He’s had a monologue from “Love in Reserve” performed in New York City and has earned accolades like the national Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award for “Baron of Brown Street” — inspired by his King interview.
“It’s interesting when it’s emotions that I’ve dealt with,” Mansfield says. “I will rework a scene … in my kitchen until it makes me cry.”
Now, he’s focused on finishing his Master of Fine Arts and upcoming projects, including a new play about abortion rights in Ohio. He has productions opening in Columbus, upstate New York and, of course, The 330 — starting Oct. 16, Kent State will put on “Trial by Fire,” about a Kent State graduate put on trial for using banned books to teach her students. He likes to set his plays near home.
“I love how our leaders look to pick each other up — that people want Akron to succeed,” Mansfield says. “If you want your town to be better, you’ve got to be willing to put yourself out there.”
