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Phillie's Trilogy by Doug DeVita

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  • Robin Rice:
    2 Dec. 2019
    “ Phillie and Barbie are best friends since childhood. We root for them to remain best friends forever, these kids who support each other through thick and thin (including multi-dimensional parents who don't proceed gently). We follow Phillie and Barbie into adulthood, and damn - their friendship comes apart at gut-level seams. I'm left shaken when Phillie discovers he has been rejected in a terribly crushing way. DeVita leaves us with friends who are now "indistinguishable from any other middle aged childhood friends who’d stayed too long at the party." ”
  • Nick Malakhow:
    30 Nov. 2019
    “ A fabulous coming of age story that meanders back and forth through time to great effect. Phillie/Philip is a compelling protagonist, and the supporting cast is a fantastically colorful and well rendered group of personalities. DeVita examines childhood trauma and the lasting impact our families have on our adult selves. There is also a meaty and clever double-casting plot that reinforces those themes beautifully. I'd love to see this highly theatrical piece on its feet. ”
  • Larry Rinkel:
    19 Oct. 2019
    “ A big, ambitious, fast-paced play centering on the gay writer Phillie/Philip and his break with the teenage friend Barbie/Barbara whom he impregnated. But above all it's the vital characters and dialogue, Phillie's mother Veronica especially, that makes this such a fun, involving play. Pay particular attention to the doublings as you read; they're carefully thought out and evocative. And think about how different life was back in the 70's for a gay teenager. ”
  • Richard Lyons Conlon:
    4 Oct. 2019
    “ I loved this play! DeVita succeeds by completely involving you in these characters, most specifically troubled teens Phillie and Barbie. You care about what they're going through (and it is considerable), about their family dynamic, and their life back in the 70's, when parents had cocktails, smoked, and parented by yelling after the fact. The two mothers, Veronica and Grace, are memorable in their own right, both of them familiar, yet completely original. From the start, you want to know more about all these characters and their world. This play simply makes you feel you were there. ”
  • Matthew Weaver:
    29 Sep. 2019
    “ I LOVE coming of age stories, and this is an especially good one. Phillie will steal your heart the way he steals his mother's olives. DeVita has a natural, charming, acerbically honest tone throughout, and he will level you with all of the ways he captures his characters' heartbreaks and heartaches. And then he drops the mic. It's all so messy and complicated and yet DeVita manuevers through decades of complications gracefully, like a bird in flight. Like Phillie's books ... this play has teeth. It's a pleasure to sink yours into this script, and vice versa. ”
  • Emma Goldman-Sherman:
    24 Sep. 2019
    “ I could not put it down! Forward momentum in this fast-paced comic drama is a skill that DeVita has mastered, and the play pulled me along as if I rode in a little red wagon. There is so much theatricality in here packed into a very playable realism, I'm impressed. The characters lift off the page, and I get a very strong sense of exactly what this looks like onstage. Accessible and funny while exposing the homophobia of our conditioning both now and then. I remember it well, and this is a very skillful rendering! ”
  • Philip Middleton Williams:
    15 Sep. 2019
    “ Our memories can be manipulative things, and the stories we tell ourselves can be adjusted to make amends or carry hurts and pains for a very long time. This play is a deeply-felt work with vibrant characters who see their past and present at the same time; at times battling each other but also singing in harmony. This is an ambitious play that will touch you in ways you don't expect but also resonate. Bravo, Doug. ”
  • Liz Thaler:
    15 Sep. 2019
    “ A beautifully ambitious play that feels deeply personal. The specificity of DeVita's characters make their conflicts all the more relatable; he provides a window into a very specific world, and shows us a universal struggle to find love and acceptance (even when our behavior isn't always the most admirable). He deftly travels through decades and makes us feel we've lived his characters' lives with them; he has compassion for his characters without sparing them the consequences of their actions. A play that will stay with you long after you see it. ”
  • Chris Gacinski:
    13 Sep. 2019
    “ DeVita has put on a playwrighting showcase with his piece “Phillie’s Trilogy.” This piece is structurally ambitious, yet DeVita cohesively ties everything together in this comedic, heart-wrenching period piece. The story he so beautifully tells is a testament to his ability. The praise for this piece is well-deserved. Stupendous work, Doug! ”
  • Hal Corley:
    3 Sep. 2019
    “ Endearing and structurally ambitious, this quadtych offers glimpses of overlapping lives with almost novelistic reach. By focusing on distinct eras and the implications of shared crises, quotidian and existential, the story assuredly acquires layers. The sublime period details are both recognizable and eclectic (Broadway's "Over Here" and "The Joy of Gay Sex," together!) When Phillip ages his young characters via adult fiction, Phillie grows up with them, a lovely grace note. In DeVita's forgiving world, time is not only a thief, but also sometimes a great tenderizer, wearing down our gnarliest of edges. Rangy, emotionally satisfying, damn near epic. ”

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