The lights dimmed as actors took to Kent State University’s Wright Curtis theater’s stage with banned books in hand quoting lines from each one.
Eric Mansfield, playwright and assistant vice president for Kent State’s University Communications and Marketing, wrote the play “Trial by Fire” to bring awareness to book banning. The story of former Oklahoma teacher Summer Boismier, who resigned after providing her students with banned books, inspired the play.
“I thought to myself that should not happen in life,” Mansfield said. “Teachers and librarians should not have to fear for their lives because they’re allowing their children in their classrooms access.”
“Trial by Fire” followed Kent State graduate Georgia Grimm as she returned to her high school, Knight’s Academy, to teach a course on gender studies. After Grimm allowed her students access to banned books, she was put on trial by the school.
In Jan. 2024, the play was originally staged at the Firestone Community Learning Center’s Firestone Theatre in Akron, Ohio. Since its first staging, the play underwent a few changes for its Kent premiere.
Noticeably the character Sydney, one of Grimm’s students who writes children’s books, was previously a disabled character, portrayed by a disabled actress, became a nonbinary character, portrayed by a nonbinary actor. There were no students with disabilities who auditioned for the role, which caused Mansfield and director Courtney Brown to be unsure how to cast Sydney, Mansfield said.
“So I spoke with [Brown] and we talked about what that character represented, and [Brown] said we did have a nonbinary actor student who had auditioned,” he said.
Mansfield said actor Ryllie Hornug, who portrayed Sydney, helped him update the play’s script to reflect Sydney’s identity.
“For example, I think that the pronouns were she/they, and the actor said, ‘No, the pronouns would be they/she,’’ he said. “Little things like that mean a lot; I want my language to be as genuine as it can be.”
From the play’s Feb. 7- 9 run, as a part of Kent’s May 4 Commemoration, Mansfield said the audience reacted positively to the play and the actors, but the book-banning message has stuck with them.
“People stop me afterward and they ask about the books that are named in the play, and I remind them every book that is mentioned, everyone has been or is banned in the United States somewhere,” he said.
These banned titles include “Brave New World,” “Charlotte’s Web,” “The Color Purple,” “The Wizard of Oz” and “To Kill a Mockingbird.” These titles strike the audience because they most likely read these books, Mansfield said.
“To hear now, ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret’ is on the top 10 most banned books in America today, I think is very eye-opening for many people,” he said.
Towards the end of the play, Grimm realized the importance of continuing to advocate against book banning.
“Book bans are a slippery slope,” Mansfield said. “This is kind of the conclusion [Grimm] comes to and gets the students to come to: if you give up on one thing, where are they going to stop?”
With the message of advocacy, he said there are organizations like Pen America that individuals can take part in to advocate against book bans.
“[Book bans] could most certainly come to Ohio and it could certainly come to Kent as easily as anywhere else in America,” Mansfield said. “I think that’s something we should all watch out for.”
Mansfield is currently searching for other high school and college theater programs to stage the next production of “Trial by Fire” to further bring awareness to the topic.
“My hope is other people around the country say, ‘Hi, I want to learn more about this play and maybe it’s a play we can do in our area,’ and that would be good,” he said.