Beck Center’s ‘World Class Care’ is a health(y) warning

Eric Coble is a master of satire and an adopted son of Northeast Ohio. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland he was raised on a Navajo and Ute Reservation in New Mexico and Colorado. From an early age he spent his spare time (when not wandering the desert) creating comics and rigging up poorly built stage shows. By high school he had moved off the rez and began acting in high school plays. He majored in English at Fort Lewis College in Colorado earning a BA and earned his MFA in Acting at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

He came to Cleveland in the early 1990’s for a two year acting internship at the Cleveland Play House after which he became an actor/teacher at Great Lakes Theater Festival. He has also been a member of the Playwright’s Unit of the Cleveland Play House’s New Play Development. Currently he resides in Cleveland Heights (home of Dobama Theatre) with his wife and children. Although he misses the desert mesas he finds himself at home among the large trees and the comfort of Lake Erie (lake effect and all).

In all he has written 92 plays since 1993 of which over half have premiered in Ohio. One of his recent works (2025) is “World Class Care” currently on stage at Beck Center For The Arts. It is a masterclass of comic parody that hits close to home.

In the near future Cleveland and surrounding areas have been taken over by Cleveland Clinic and University Hospital. Every square inch of private residential land has been gobbled up by the two health care behemoths...all except one house strategically positioned on the border between the two. It is owned by Mildred Grigsby (Christina Johnson) who lives there with her niece, Yolanda Grigsby (Chennelle Bryant-Harris).

Cleveland Clinic is represented by Kyle Carlyle (Joshua McElroy) a newbie to the acquisition game who manages to fall for Yolanda. On the UH side is Carolyn Demanelis (Chelsea Pickering) who is more experienced (read cutthroat) in her approach. Joe Pine takes on three roles as Carolyn’s assistant Victor Wade, hockey player Greg Salvatino and mayor’s assistant Jonathan Schmidt. Michael J. Montanus plays Kyle’s assistant as well as Rupert Norris, rock god.

Mildred quietly sits in her overstuffed easy chair as both sides parlay over the small plot of land and house. CC wants it for an add on break room to the existing neighboring building while US’s dire need is to build yet another parking garage. In between, Kyle is busy wooing Mildred’s niece. Nothing is sacred.

The stage set by Stacey Costanzo is a prime example of juxtaposed opposites with modern back lit glass and wood corporate settings on each side encroaching on the comfortable homey living space of Mildred and Yolanda. Michael Boll does a wonderful job with the lighting design along with Angie Hayes who does the sound design. The costuming by Lainey Bodenburg is modern without being too ridiculous although the overly large ear pieces that seem to do all wonders of modern communications are a nice touch. The show is aptly directed by Eric Schmiedl. The actors themselves work very well together hitting all the marks for comic timing. Residents will enjoy the many sly references to local familiar landmarks and institutions. My favorite line of the play is from Mildred who observes “When the city begins painting bike lanes on the streets the white folks will be coming”.

In Eric Coble’s world, modernization is not necessarily a good step forward. What happens when citizens decry personal ownership for personal comfort allowing giant corporations to control all aspects of their lives. After all, how much are people willing to give up? This could be a wave of the future or maybe not. You decide.

The Beck Center For The Arts production of “World Class Care” will be on stage in the Studio Theater at 17801 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, Ohio through November 1, 2026. For more information and to order tickets go to https://beckcenter.org/ or call (216) 521-2540.