Eric Schmiedl is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and a graduate of Kent State University and the University of Hawaii.  He has had plays commissioned and produced by The Cleveland Play House, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, and Cleveland SignStage.  Singin' On The Ohio, a children's play set on the Ohio & Erie Canal received an acclaimed production at The Cleveland Play House this past spring.  He is currently working on an adaptation of the award winning works of Clifton Taulbert developed at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival as part of the Southern Writer's Project, and a new play based on the life of Johnny Appleseed for The Cleveland Play House.  As a director Eric has worked on many productions, including The Red Badge of Courage, Romeo and Juliet, Love's Labor's Lost, Jocasta, The Wind in the Willows, and adaptations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.  Eric is a member of The Cleveland Play House's Playwriting Unit and is a recipient of the Lisa Toishigawa Inoye Playwriting Award.  He has worked on the artistic staffs of The Cleveland Play House, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, the Denver Center Theatre Company, and Karamu House.  Eric and his wife Adaora live in lovely Cleveland Heights with their son Zeke and beagle Mable.