←Recommendations of The Fierce Urgency Of Now

I was hooked early and held throughout. Razor-sharp dialogue blended with purpose, depth, and wit - Doug DeVita displays his craftsmanship in a play I am eager to see onstage.

Doug DeVita's dialogue is like a roller coaster, you have to buckle in because you're in for a ride. The character work on the page is particularly astounding, everyone has their own little ticks, sayings, triggers, etc. The toxic work environment is viscerally rendered through dynamics between Kate and, well, everybody. The tension in the office reaches the levels of satire in Branden Jacobs Jenkins' GLORIA or Caryl Churchill's SERIOUS MONEY, mixed with the actualization dramas of Tarell Alvin McCraney (MARCUS, etc.) or the acerbic works of Christopher Durang. The multimedia aspects never get in the way, rather they immerse.

DeVita skewers the work environment of a busy New York ad agency with terrific accuracy and economy. The characters are appealing even (especially?) when behaving atrociously, and DeVita imbues the relationships with growing emotional resonance without ever getting manipulative or sentimental. Expertly done.

Doug Devita has given us a multitude of gifts in this fast-paced comedy set in a New York ad agency. Poor Kyle, a youngish art director at a high-powered agency is just trying to find love and fulfillment in his life and his work, but is being stymied at every turn by agency politics and vindictive higher-ups. This play can work at many levels: as an almost comedic farce, but also as an unexpectedly touching human drama, as Kyle finds unexpected friendship and meaning when paired with an old relic writing partner, whose story is both touching and inspiring.

Doug Devita has given us a multitude of gifts in this fast-paced comedy set in a New York ad agency. Poor Kyle, a youngish art director at a high-powered agency is just trying to find love and fulfillment in his life and his work, but is being stymied at every turn by agency politics and vindictive higher-ups. This play can work at many levels: as an almost comedic farce, but also as an unexpectedly touching human drama, as Kyle finds unexpected friendship and meaning when paired with an old relic writing partner, whose story is both touching and inspiring.

This is a stellar piece of writing! I was engaged the entire time. Strong character arcs. I made me laugh and cringe at the right moments. Kate, though I wanted to hate her, and I did for a moment, but revenge is best served with paint.
Love it!

All I can say is that I saw an early reading and production of Doug Devita's funny, biting and provocative play, and I can't wait to see a new full production of this play. As New York City and the country start to reopen from a long deep sleep, the time is now, "The Fierce Urgency of Now" will certainly wake people up.

Doug DeVita's, THE FIERCE URGENCY OF NOW, is a brilliant look at expectations, dreams, and escape. Its wonderfully rich characters and fast-fire dialogue accurately recreates the high-stress world of advertising, the frustrations with toxic management and problem clients, the long-term effects of following through on expectations when your dreams were waylaid by reality. Anger, fear, loss, bigotry, hope, toxic people, and loving friendship are the foundations of the narrative. There are characters you love and characters you love to hate all written in a realistic, honestly funny, and biting way. This play is smart, fresh, and very well done.

Devita manages to take the monotonous drone of an advertising office and fill it to the brim with drama and tension. With every character feeling as full and realized as the next, you’ll find yourself caring more about the comings and goings of that world than you ever did before. The relationships are well sewn and well tangled, the stakes are as high as they can be, and of course there’s plenty of sharp humor to bring you back to smiling just as the tension becomes too much. This play is honest, hilarious, and heartbreaking all at once.

A radio adaptation of this play was broadcast by the Fresh Fruit Festival. Radio’s ability to compress scene changes facilitates a fast-paced script that takes protagonist Kyle on a journey from passive to active participant in his own life. Because his job consumes him 24/7, all of Kyle’s relationships, sexual and social, involve people at the office. But the ad agency where he works is the corporate equivalent of Survivor. When someone “has your back” it is to decide exactly where to stick the knife. The environment is toxic, but DeVita’s crackling dialogue makes the visit a pleasure.