Eric Coble

It's 1995 and Marjorie Preston's theatre is presenting "Rapture In America" on Friday.   The only problem is that her theatre is in a major southern city and the play features (bad) homosexuality and (worse) full frontal male nudity -- a full frontal 7 seconds of it.  And now the Mayor (who just wants to lure the Olympics to his city) is trying to close the theatre.  And now a brimstone-breathing pastor and a woman who counts the number of "fucks" in all her library books are breaking out the torches and pitchforks to burn the theatre down.  And now the actors are terrified and giving out cans of pepper spray as opening night gifts.  If they live that long.  And now the playwright is threatening to sue and the national media is descending and...
Southern Rapture (based on a true story) hilariously dives into the true meaning of art, commerce, censorship, and why it may matter that your costumer is a member of the He Is Risen Apostolic Tabernacle. 

In the face of oncoming disaster, a family gathers in the mountains of Colorado. As the clock ticks, old wounds open and new opportunities arise, even as mysterious omens encroach from the surrounding woods. “The First Snow Of Summer" asks who and what is worth saving when the end draws near.

A story of sex, drugs and sex-inducing drugs. Phil was living a relatively happily married life despite his complaints of his wife Maggie’s lack of interest in sex. Then she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and life got better. At least their sex life.
Co-written with "Seinfeld" writer Marc Jaffe and based on a true story, this hilarious and touching one-man show explores how a disease changes not only the ill, but relationships and every other side effect of life.

Harold Carver is the greatest political strategist the nation has ever known.  But tonight he has to save four doomed campaigns, his own disintegrating marriage, and fend off an FBI investigation — with no one to help him but eager intern Daphne.  And he’s stuck at Gate C19 of Cleveland Hopkins Airport.  A no-holds-barred look at how we choose our elected officials (and every other product) in our winner-take-all-world.

Dawn. A young man wakes in a woman’s apartment, hungover. Clearly a one-night-stand with a stranger. What’s not clear is how he’s going to get out. The whole city has gone into lockdown in the hunt for a terrorist after a horrific bombing the day before.
Now these two who want nothing to do with each other must face not only the growing claustrophobia, but the deepening paranoia that they may not be who they seem. Who can you trust in a world of corrosive violence?

Talisa is a college student who suddenly finds herself sinking into the earth. Literally. But with each submersion she becomes more attuned to the entwined world around her. Can she find the balance between universal empathy and self-preservation?

The Tomte are little people of Sweden, no taller than a dandelion, who help farmers in the forest. But when young scamp Tovic grows tired of hearing his family's tales of adventure, he decides to go on an adventure of his own. On Christmas Eve he sets out to win a jewel for the kind farmer's daughter Adelgunda on her wedding day. But that means sneaking into the giant Trolls' cave on the one night they count their riches and then getting back out before sunrise, or else be trapped in the cave for a year… or worse, yet… eaten in a pie!
Can Tovic have his own adventure of a lifetime and live to tell the tale?

Do we ever really know our parents? Do we want to? Really? Two sisters are about to find out when they discover a hat box hidden in the back of their recently deceased father's closet. What sits inside sends them off to visit eccentric Aunt Esther and on an increasingly wild ride down memory lane. With surprising twists and hilarious turns, this brand new comedy of family lore revels in the bizarre and beautiful mysteries that make up a life.

Earthworm squats in a no-man's land trying to get across the river.
Lightning Bug sits in a boarded up apartment secretly reading novels with a fugitive.
Armadillo stands in her police body armor explaining why she betrayed herself and everything she stood for.
“A Dark Wood” is the story of three members of a shattered family, each in a very different corner of a society in free-fall. The play is divided into three acts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. Each act features a different style and rhythm of storytelling - all building to a desperate faith in humanity and art in the face of corrosive collapse.

Andrew Claxon is throwing a party for Grandad Claxon’s 150th birthday as a last-ditch effort to finally get the higher-ups at his company to notice him. His plan might just work since Grandad IS the corporation's founding father. If only Andrew’s wife can successfully navigate re-re-applying for her own job, and their daughter will stop mystery-blogging, while neighbors desperately flood into their home because of nearby rampages and plumbing explosions. And did we mention the Guatemalan Flu that makes house pets spontaneously combust?
THE FAMILY CLAXON is an insane romp into the absurdity of life in our communally duct-taped home.

What happens when you discover you're not alone in your body?
After a tragedy devastates tiny Dove Creek, Colorado, the Mysteries begin.  Three lonely people bind together as their lives and bodies begin heralding events far beyond their comprehension.  But are they preparing for a miracle or succumbing to madness?  
A riveting exploration of faith and community in small-town America.

“A psalm with a sense of humor. Coble’s writing is as entertaining as it is smart and engrossing.”
— The News Herald

“Weird stuff that would make those kings of the weird Rod Serling and Stephen King dance in the aisles… The titular hosts, who speak directly to the audience for most of the play, are engaging souls, thanks in part to a helping of gentle humor and wry observations…”
—Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Absolutely mesmerizing. Discovering the fate of Meaghan, Phyllis and Earl is just one of the many reasons to see this play. Another is to say you did before this work is released upon the world and the many accolades it will no doubt receive start pouring in.”
— Cleveland Jewish News

“Provocative… Meaghan, Earl, and Phyllis are marvelously alive on page and stage”
— WN.com

“Fascinating… At first, these people and their problems seem not all that significant. And Coble treats them as such, using his proven ability to craft quips and amusing punch lines with deft precision… but their bodies have been annexed by some force that they can’t control. And we’re not talking about a craving for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups here because, as we soon learn, these unseen occupiers are pretty serious motherfuckers.”
— Scene Magazine

"People disappear, the image in the cup disappears, you can’t ever fully put your weight on anything or anyone, atoms rearrange, nothing is constant... and the best you can hope for is to achieve a moment of perfection -- a perfect latte maybe... and then disappear."
All of life’s mysteries will be revealed in the Steamed Bean Coffee House, at the hands of barista extraordinaire Alex. She is the master of her mellowing parents, tensing roommates, imploding bosses, and desperate regulars. But what no one but Alex seems to get is that our jobs, our world itself – nothing is constant. And if it’s all moving at the speed of espresso steam, what is there to commit to? The trick is to just touch perfection… and move on.
Except… there is this boy… silver artist Christopher... who may, just may, be worth a “yes” instead of a “maybe”… but what would that do to the delicate ecosystem of the coffee shop?
Not to mention Alex’s quest for the holy grail of dark roast… The Perfect Latte…

“Wincingly funny, playwright Eric Coble pours a cup of youthful freedom in ‘A Girl’s Guide to Coffee’... It's a testament to Coble that the things Alex says sound like the caffeinated musings of a flesh-and-blood twentysomething, not a sitcom parody of a hipster spouting post- grad speak…” ​-- Cleveland Plain Dealer
“A delightful evening of theatre... Coble has the ability to take a minor incident and translate it into an amusing, yet meaningful theatrical experience.” -- CoolCleveland.com
“Both tender and achingly funny, what makes Coble’s play more than a steady stream of laughs is its piercing honesty. “ ​-- Cleveland Jewish News
“A charming new hit... Coble turns the coffee-shop atmosphere into a philosophy of life” -- West Side Leader
“The furious, funny work is an insightful cutting criticism of our consumerist, text-addicted age” ​-- Cleveland.com
“Coble uses coffee as a skillfully brewed metaphor in this smart, funny, and poetically written comedy” ​-- The Akron Beacon Journal

"The point of this month is not belief, it’s skin color! Or rather it’s that skin color doesn’t matter, we’re all human, we’re all wonderful. It’s about ignoring skin color. By pointing it out. And celebrating it. Then moving beyond it. In March."
Fairfield Elementary is a progressive integrated school in a progressive integrated community where Black History Month goes horribly horribly wrong.
One bad role-playing exercise by an over-eager 1st grade teacher and suddenly black and white parents, principals, superintendents, and teachers are fighting for their educational lives and to just reach the "CelebrEthnic Potluck" on February 28th in one piece.

“‘Fairfield’ is absolutely not to be missed... the script is a laugh riot” -- BroadwayWorld.com
“An absolute scream... The crowd howled at the dexterity and audacity of Coble's jewel of a script” --Cleveland Plain Dealer

“‘Fairfield is big and bold, full of great one-liners and deep thoughts, but is not for the easily offended” -- The Examiner
“This terrific, funny play is sure to become a hit in regional theatres across the country” -- Talkin’ Broadway
“Superb with razor sharp comedic timing" -- AXS
“Coble's show is filled with both witty and guffaw-producing dialogue" -- Westlife
“A hilarious and increasingly outrageous exploration of the current state of race relations in America” --Cleveland Jewish News
“Piercing and insightful social commentary... A wickedly witty comedy of manners mixed with slapstick farce” -- Scene Magazine

"In retrospect, I think our bed frame might have been the beginning of the end.
It seems possible, doesn’t it, that you can tell life’s journey by how portable your bed is?"
Alexa is a brilliant visual artist. Or she was. Now she works on ads for Panda Buffet and futon stores. While also juggling her children, husband, parents. And what may or may not be the end of Earth's atmosphere. But all that was Before. Now she's circling in on what's changed, what she's lost and whether her art can once more save her and just possibly all of humanity.

Stranded On Earth is a poetic labyrinth of a monologue about the cost of putting down roots and the cost of exploding free.

“A lyrically beautiful, sensitive drama” -- Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
“Deep and poetic... Not only uplifting, but thrilling” -- Artes Magazine
"Sublime... Coble's marvelously evocative script uses its gorgeous language to paint the air with pictures. -- Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Mesmerizing.... A deep, fascinating world for the audience to explore” -- Broadwayworld.com
“Coble fuses together originality and imagination in such an effective, brilliant and absolutely captivating way it will take your breath away.” --Boise Highlights
“ ****. One minute the audience is laughing, the other gasping ....Thoughtful, Funny, Intense and Jarring.” --Fine Arts Examiner
“Coble can craft sentences that bristle and heave with such lush imagery that you just want to take a few and cuddle up with them over a glass of brandy.” --Scene Magazine

"And the question is: Are the coyotes the last dregs of a wild we are inevitably surrounding... or are they the first scouts of a wild that is inevitably surrounding us?"
Toby and Melinda live quiet lonely lives in their apartment building. Until the night when a starving coyote shows up on their fire escape. From here their world spirals magically, wildly out of control as they embrace their animal instincts - every night bonding deeper with their untamed visitor. By turns highly poetic, disturbing, and dangerous, "My Barking Dog" is a riotous, riveting exploration of the lengths to which our everyday lives have disconnected us from nature, and what happens when the boundaries between wild and civilized are gnawed clean through.

“GO! At various moments poetic, funny, gripping and stomach-churning, and sometimes all these things together.” --L.A. Weekly
“An intense, captivating, and improbably funny 90-minute piece…" -- The Plain Dealer
“For nimble minds seeking a more cerebrally challenging alternative to the commercialized platitudes that tend to crop up around Earth Day, ‘My Barking Dog’ could be just the ticket.” -- Los Angeles Times
“The edgy magical realism is darkly comic, disturbingly funny, and haunting” -- Cleveland Magazine
“Smart, witty, theatre of the absurb-esque... A stream-lined, no-fat depiction of two lonely souls possibly finding their ultimate purpose in life.” -- BroadwayWorld.com
“A great new American play... a boldly imaginative theater piece that is strange and startling as well as humorous and oddly touching.” -- Cleveland Jewish News
“This is a truly magnificent piece of work... as funny as it is thought-provoking, and as imaginative as it is relevant" -- The News-Herald
“Leave your expectations at home. ...Truly, Fantastic.” --On Stage Los Angeles
“Gets under your skin to resonate both thematically and dramatically” --Stage Raw