←Recommendations of Phillie's Trilogy

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.

There is so much to adore in Doug DeVita's PHILLIE'S TRILOGY. You don't have to have grown up in 70s Long Island to recognize the clear but complicated characters he puts forth in this mini-saga of a gay man's coming of age and beyond. As in the best plays, the story flows organically out of the relationships of these mortals who are trying, as best they can, to negotiate their way through the landmines of life. DeVita writes with an unerring ear for the way real people talk but with the wit and precision of a natural story-teller.

What a bittersweet comedy Doug DeVita has written about growing up gay in 1970s Long Island! The fully drawn characters all live and breathe from start to finish in a poignant tale that takes on family dysfunction, adolescent sexuality, friendship, and secrets – and dazzles you with witty and sharp dialogue all along the way. All that, and meaty roles for actors, to boot. So well done!

It is clear to see why "Phillie's Trilogy" by Doug DeVita has been so highly praised. As a guy who grew up in the 70’s the play rings true with well-developed characters and sharp dialogue that brings back memories and delivers a satisfying and engaging theatrical experience.

Funny and sweet, Phillie's Trilogy, takes you back to childhood days when power was always in the hands of the adults - except for the power to shake things up! Doug DeVita's well-drawn characters, sharp and funny dialogue keep this play nostalgic but never sentimental. And the "third act" reunion puts everything that's happened into lovely perspective. I highly recommend this play.

Doug DeVita’s play, PHILLIE’S TRILOGY, features smart, fully developed characters who engage in incisive dialogue that never becomes sentimental. He steps back in time to tell an original and unpredictable coming of age story filled with twists and turns. I was completely engaged throughout the entire play.

There's a sweet and affectionate nostalgic tone to DeVita's portrayal of family life in the 1970's, complete with references to Rice-A-Roni, Pringles Chips and "Maude," but he shows us real people with all their flaws as they stumble and try to connect with each other, especially when we flash forward to the present. This is a lovely play that had me on page one and has left me thinking about the lives of its many characters long after its final scene.

Phillie's Trilogy is three coming of age stories in one about a boy and the man he becomes. It perfectly captures how our friends and family resonate from childhood into our later lives. It's a roller coaster of torment, forgiveness, disappointment, and surprising tenderness. Early on, it also deals frankly which childhood sexuality: what we long for before we understand longing and how we experiment before we understand our bodies. A lovely piece.

DeVita’s characters are indelibly vivid and wonderfully complex. You love them or you hate them – sometimes simultaneously - but you’ll never forget them. Mix a little of Mark Twain’s satire with a bit of JD Salinger’s ironic self-deprecation and you may get a sense of DeVita’s voice. Read this play – better yet produce it. It’s a deliciously funny and unexpectedly moving play.

In THE PHILLIE TRILOGY, Doug Devita exhibits a sublime eye and ear for the details that add up to real, living characters. The members of this mismatched extended family, in 1970’s Long Island and beyond, need each other — especially in an environment rigid in its religious and sexual standards. Yet each one acts by turns hilarious and awful, his or her own worst enemy. Underneath it all runs the ache of a boy isolated in his own home town who yearns for escape. DeVita’s great achievement is to make us feel for all the characters, even the most deluded.