←Recommendations of Phillie's Trilogy

The characters in Phillie's Trilogy feel so real, the dialogue so natural, that you are left with a vague impression that playwright Doug DeVeta might just be sifting through your own memories, sharing bits of your own reality. DeVeta's ability to seamlessly pull back the curtain of life, guide you through the nitty gritty of memory, and shine a light on both the vulnerability and the strength of life-long relationships is amazing. I really hope I one day have the opportunity to see this one staged.

Exquisite. With Phillie McDougal, DeVita gifts the audience with one of the most uniquely layered queer & quirky characters ever devised. Unapologetic, defiant, vulnerable, volatile & antagonistic all rolled into one. And in fact, every single character in this play is captivating, the relationships between them genuinely complex and entwined. Phillie’s Trilogy is also cinematic in scope as DeVita nimbly moves backward and forward in time, expertly accentuating various tense moments with flashbacks & voiceovers. There’s plenty to ponder, but at the center of this play is an extraordinary love story between a gay man and his best girlfriend.

This is not deja-vu; I have recommended this play before in September 2019. But in this finely-tuned revision, Doug DeVita brings the scalpel and sharp focus on the characters to the point that it's a breathtaking trip through the past and present in the lives of these friends and family, lovers and rivals, bringing out the past joys and pain in exquisite and sometimes excruciating detail. The growth of the characters through the years and the regressions to past hurts makes it all the more compelling to watch and hold them to your heart.

The entire enormous series of Phillie McDougal plays is an equally enormous joy, filled with a sprawling cast of messy, mouthy, finely-delineated and unforgettable characters. This particular time-jumping subset serves especially delicious focus on Phil/Phillie’s complicated relationship to his mother, the balls-out brilliantly…well…self-assured Veronica, and to his trusted bestie Barbie/Barbara. 1970s queer adolescence, grotesque behavior from priests and nuns, and contemporary middle-aged grief and loss come in for the kind of ruthless, funny, and moving examination that only the sharp mind of DeVita can deliver.

A fascinating look into the secrets and deceptions of a small Catholic community are examined in life long friends Philip and Barbara. The play’s troubling final reveals inspire writer Philip to reflect on his early homosexual experiences and the inevitable consequences of love and intimacy. An intriguing read.

Doug DeVita takes you on a journey; during which you meet extraordinary and extraordinarily well-drawn characters, you travel through evocatively created eras and you come up against issues of great depth. You would be hard-pressed to find a piece of work which makes you lurch from one emotion to another in the most eloquent fashion. No wonder this has become one of this writers' most seminal plays.

An amazing play that works as both a coming-of-age tale and a coming-of-aging story. Over the course of several decades the title character and those around him are still trying to figure out who they are. I particularly love the way Doug DeVita shows the characters at different ages on stage at the same time, as if to say that we never really leave the past behind.
Extraordinary.

Betrayals are awful, and betrayals by family and friends with good, if selfish, intentions can change one's view of his whole life. "Phillie's Trilogy" is a master class on how to make three short plays feel like one integrated whole. Incidents in one become significant memories in the next. Seeming throw-away leitmotivs such as a recurring jar of olives become important. A great read that would play beautifully.

Devita has breathed new life into the family drama with this wonderful work. A true mastery of pace, character, and language. From the 70's to the recent present these characters brim with life and pertinence. Every line catapults you to the next and the next thing you know, all of your fears have been confirmed, what's done has been done, and the only thing left is the breathe and move forward.

Gorgeous read! Needs a hearty company worthy of it's magnitude so we can really see these colors pop!

Wow. Doug DaVita has delivered an ambitious, sprawling saga that will hook you from open curtain and suck you in as it spans years and boundaries. The inner turmoil for each character is palpable, especially so for Phillie/Philip. His complex and mostly painful relationships with, it seems, everyone in his life – Barbie and Keith, his mom, a lecherous priest and bad-tempered nun – they’re all gut-wrenching. And Phillie, to the dismay of others, finds catharsis by writing and publishing his story. Brilliant.