World Class Care is a World Premiere Comedy

Please contact: Julie Gilliland, Vice President for Institutional Advancement at  jgilliland@beckcenter.org.

 FOR RELEASE: August 20, 2026 

 Beck Center for the Arts Announces

Eric Coble World Premiere Comedy,

World Class Care

 Lakewood, OH–Beck Center for the Arts is thrilled to announce their first production of the 2026-2027 Theater Season, the world premiere, World Class Care, by Cleveland playwright Eric Coble.

 Mr. Coble partnered with Beck Center on the Ohio premiere of his Broadway production of The Velocity of Autumn and is back with another comedy that will make you a little queasy before you get healthy. An award-winning local playwright, Eric Coble once again delivers a powerful, thought-provoking script with World Class Care, directed by Eric Schmiedl running in the Studio Theater October 2 to November 1, 2026, presented with special arrangement with Gersh Agency.

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland and raised on Navajo and Ute reservations in New Mexico and Colorado, Eric Coble’s work has been produced on Broadway, off-Broadway, in Disney theme parks, in all 50 states of the U.S., and on six continents. He’s won over a dozen national awards and over 30 plays are in publication. The Tony-, Emmy-, and Pulitzer nominated Cleveland playwright Mr. Coble shared, “I’ve always been fascinated by what happens when organizations that are created to help people become so large that their main function becomes to sustain themselves (because they’re here to help people!).  It happens in every country and in many forms (institutions, political parties, religions, militaries, etc). How does that happen? What happens to the individuals in that machine?  Then another thing that fascinates me are the people who refuse to go along with the flow. The person who refuses to move when the world says Move. These two ideas bang into each other nicely. And finally, I always delight in taking situations to their illogical extremes - usually because it’s very funny and still makes us think about the path we’re on. That’s World Class Care:  A wild trip into the world of huge institutions and the tiny people that support and oppose them.”World Class Care, set in a not-so-distant future, where two powerful hospital systems have expanded to control nearly all of Cleveland—except for one stubborn homeowner who stands in their way. As the companies race to claim the final piece of land, their tactics spiral into outrageous schemes in ethical gray areas. Eric Coble’s World Class Care is a fast-paced comedy that examines what happens when profit-driven healthcare loses sight of humanity, in this brand-new, old-fashioned, futuristic farce which proves laughter is the best medicine.

 This world premiere play will be directed by Eric Schmiedl, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and a graduate of Kent State University and the University of Hawai’i .He is a celebrated playwright and director who has worked a wide range of theaters, from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Cleveland Play House, Great Lakes Theater, Cleveland Public Theatre, Karamu House, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Oregon Children’s Theatre, and more. He is the recipient of a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, a Creative Workforce Fellowship, an Aurand Harris Fellowship, a Sloan Foundation Commission, and has been awarded three Edgerton Foundation New American Play Awards.

 Tickets to all individual shows are now on sale at 216-521-2540 and Beckcenter.org. Smart Seats are available for each performance at just $18 per person. Regular pricing starts at $46 for adults, $42 for seniors, $23 for those under 25 years of age, and children are $20 each. Prices listed include the $3 per ticket service fees.

Season Tickets and Flex Passes for the 2026-2027 Theater Season range in price from $136 to $384 and are available for purchase now at 216-521-2540

Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Preview performances are 7:30 p.m. the Thursday before opening night, with general admission seating for just $15. For more information on the 2026-2027 Theater Season please visit beckcenter.org.

All performances are at theaters inside Beck Center for the Arts located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, just ten minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Free on-site parking is available. For more information visit beckcenter.org.

Beck Center for the Arts is proud to be a part of Northeast Ohio’s professional theater landscape, operating under a letter of agreement with Actors’ Equity Association. We are a Small Professional Theater (SPT) based on the number of seats, number of our performances, and the maximum weekly hours of work we provide to actors. We produce every show on our stages, by choosing the play, casting and rehearsing it, building the sets, props, and costumes, directing and performing the live music, and designing lights and sound. We proudly utilize regional resources and talent.

Beck Center for the Arts also offers arts education for all ages, all skill levels, and all abilities, with classes and lessons in music, dance, visual arts, and theater, as well as

creative arts therapies. Financial assistance is offered to qualified applicants so that these programs can be enjoyed by all. 

Programming at Beck Center for the Arts is made possible through the generous support of First Federal Lakewood, Callahan and Klym Foundations, and the Ohio Arts

Council. Beck Center gratefully acknowledges the generous funding provided by the citizens of Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. 

Beck Center for the Arts is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization that offers professional theater productions on two stages, arts education programming in dance, music, theater, visual arts, early childhood, and creative arts therapies for individuals with disabilities, free gallery exhibits year-round, and community education programming.

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