Have you noticed how many residential properties are being scooped up by corporations? A 2025 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy study named “Who Owns America” found that 10 percent of residential parcels in Cuyahoga County are corporate-owned. That number jumps up to 17.5 percent when you zoom in on the official city bounds of Cleveland.
Playwright Eric Coble has certainly taken notice. In his world premiere comedy, “World Class Care,” at Beck Center for the Arts, Coble provides a wacky, hyper-local look at a future where corporations don’t own just 17.5 percent of residential property in Cleveland, but 99.999 percent–and the corporations buying up all that land are none other than the healthcare giants University Hospitals and Cleveland Clinic.
The place is Cleveland, Ohio. The year is…undefined, but described in the program as “barely-in-the-future.” All we know is that we’re far enough in the future that the standard iPhone is outdated and society now uses a chip in our brains and circular discs around our ears to send messages, project images and make calls. Almost all of the land in Cleveland is now owned by University Hospitals or Cleveland Clinic. The last privately owned home is the residence of Mildred Grigsby and her niece Yolanda.
Enter Kyle Carlyle and Chelsea Pickering, each the head of property acquisition for the competing hospitals and each determined to procure the Grigsbys’ house so that they can officially be the largest medical institution in the city of Cleveland. With their jobs and pride on the line, Kyle and Chelsea become increasingly desperate to sway the reluctant Grigsbys into selling the property, and they will use every trick and weapon in their arsenal to make a deal, ethics be damned.
Coble, a local, Emmy-nominated playwright, is no stranger to exploring the significance of a home. For example, refusing to abandon a house is a major plot point in “The Velocity of Autumn,” one of Coble’s most recognizable plays that ran on Broadway, and “The First Snow of Summer,” which premiered just last year at Seat of the Pants Productions. These shows are deep, emotional forays into place and family dynamics, with moments of comedic levity mixed into the drama. “World Class Care” is somewhat the opposite, thrusting laughter to the forefront while infusing the laughs with bits of thematic commentary.
In this case, social criticism is provided in regard to the loss of community. As the villain organizations gobble up parcels of land to build all manner of high-tech buildings with corporate-jargon names plastered on the front, the relationships fostered between the people who used to own those neighborhoods are forgotten. Not to mention the loss of equity and pride begotten by ownership. There’s a message in here too about how even the organizations designed to heal and help and improve lives–non-profits both, mind you–will still find themselves ruled by greed should the opportunity for domination arise.
But the real star of the show here is the comedy used as a vehicle to deliver the messaging. Director Eric Schmiedl understood the nature of the satirical script, leaning into the over-the-top, absurd exaggerations and not pulling any punches as the show pummels the two hospital systems: there are self-driving ambulances, nanobot centers built without break rooms for staff and even a stuffed pet dog–and that only scratches the surface of the absurdity.
Carolyn Demanelis as University Hospitals’ representative, Chelsea, is an absolute gem. Chelsea is that overworked, manic employee who is only one bad meeting with her boss away from snapping and losing all, and Demanelis gives that energy real charge that she skillfully maintains throughout the majority of the show.
Kyle, the new employee who handles property procurement at Cleveland Clinic, is played with a softer touch by a kind Joshua McElroy. While Kyle also has his moments of mania and desperation, he is the more composed of the two rapacious characters. When he becomes enamoured with Yolanda, the lines between securing a deal and caring for the younger Grigsby’s best interests begin to blur.
Chelsea and Kyle are each aided in their property-procurement venture by their assistants. Chelsea is assisted by eager-to-please Victor Wade, played by an enthusiastic Joe Pine, and Kyle is supported by high-strung Garrett Nichols, played by an explosive Michael J. Montanus. Pine and Montanus also double as supplemental side characters.
Embodying the want-to-be singer turned caretaker, Yolanda, is a super sweet and down-to-earth Chennelle Bryant-Harris. And portraying her aunt is Christina Johnson. Johnson emotes more than she speaks, as Mildred is a seemingly reserved figure, but when she does speak, she makes it count.
Stacey Costanzo’s set design features the mantle of a quaint living room stuffed between two modern, angular structures. We can easily define the corresponding hospitals that these are meant to represent thanks to their red, white, green and blue lighting by designer Michael Boll. Lainey Bodenburg’s costume design also uses the brand colors and job badges to distinguish loyalties. Jazzy music by Angie Hayes helps aid the transition between scenes.
If you’re from Northeast Ohio, you’ll easily recognize the brand colors and the many jokes that harken back to our local cities, companies and sports teams. “World Class Care” is chock full of Cleveland references, so much so that it feels like an inside joke penned just for us. While this does limit the transferability of the show to be performed elsewhere with the same success, locals will love it.
The premise, hijinks and ending of “World Class Care” are silly–and they’re meant to be. But underneath, you can see this small kernel of truth that whispers the question, “Is this reality really that far-fetched?” Let’s just hope that the premise remains a cheeky satire for the foreseeable future; it’s far more enjoyable that way.
“World Class Care” runs through Nov. 1, 2026, at Beck Center for the Arts, 17801 Detroit Ave, Lakewood. Tickets can be purchased by calling (216) 521-2540 or by visiting beckcenter.org, $23-46.
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