Doug DeVita

Doug DeVita

A self-proclaimed "King of the Semi-Finals," Doug is a two-time O’Neill Semi-Finalist (Fable and Just A Rumor), Semi-Finalist for Barrington Stage Company's Burman New Play Award, Normal Avenue’s New American Play Series, and Campfire Theatre Festival (Phillie’s Trilogy,) Semi-Finalist for B Street Theatre’s New Comedy Festival (Goddess Of The Hunt and Upper Division), and Semi-Finalist for We...
A self-proclaimed "King of the Semi-Finals," Doug is a two-time O’Neill Semi-Finalist (Fable and Just A Rumor), Semi-Finalist for Barrington Stage Company's Burman New Play Award, Normal Avenue’s New American Play Series, and Campfire Theatre Festival (Phillie’s Trilogy,) Semi-Finalist for B Street Theatre’s New Comedy Festival (Goddess Of The Hunt and Upper Division), and Semi-Finalist for We Screenplay’s Diverse Voices Competition (The Fierce Urgency Of Now).

In addition, he has won Fresh Fruit Awards of Distinction for Outstanding Play (The Fierce Urgency Of Now) and Outstanding Production (Fierce… and Phillie’s Trilogy) as well as the Inaugural (and so far only) Scrap Mettle Arts Emerging Playwrights Competition (Phillie's Trilogy.)

Doug is currently an advisory board member for All Out Arts, and formerly an Artistic Director for Westside Repertory Theater. His work has been seen in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, New Jersey, Connecticut, and London, and has been developed at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC (Mark Bly, Gary Garrison, Jacqueline Goldfinger, and Caleen Jennings), and at ESPA/Primary Stages in New York (Robert Askins, Rogelio Martinez, Winter Miller, and Michael Walkup). He has also studied with Karen Hartman, Lyle Kessler, Jeffrey Sweet, and Eric Webb.

A member of the Dramatists Guild, he has had work published by Smith Scripts UK.

Plays

  • All The King's Horses by Doug DeVita
    Recommendations: 12
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: features great roles for women, all female cast + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, mystery/thriller, tragedy
    Keyword: features great roles for women, all female cast, mother/daughter relationships, egg donation
    FULL LENGTH, 72 Pages / Early Draft. Looking for development opportunities.

    Foreign exchange student Anna thinks meeting egg broker Eileen to be the luckiest break she could have as a struggling actress in Hollywood. And when Anna proves to be quite fertile, the unscrupulous Eileen begins shopping her around for donation after donation. But – as Anna recounts to Hella, a court-ordered therapist...
    FULL LENGTH, 72 Pages / Early Draft. Looking for development opportunities.

    Foreign exchange student Anna thinks meeting egg broker Eileen to be the luckiest break she could have as a struggling actress in Hollywood. And when Anna proves to be quite fertile, the unscrupulous Eileen begins shopping her around for donation after donation. But – as Anna recounts to Hella, a court-ordered therapist working through her own personal crisis – when Anna's fertility begins to decline, both she and Eileen react in ways that have devastating consequences for both of them.

    Inspired by the memoir "Confessions Of A Serial Egg Donor," by Julia Derek.
  • Fable by Doug DeVita
    Recommendations: 33
    ·
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: biography, comedy + 9 more
    ·
    Keyword: great roles for women, great roles for older women + 4 more
    Genre: biography, comedy, dark comedy, docudrama/historic, drama, fable/folktale, fantasy, movement/physical, parody/spoof, period, satire
    Keyword: great roles for women, great roles for older women, features LGBTQ characters, memory play, showbiz play, O'Neill Semi-Finalist
    FULL LENGTH, 63 pages

    Semi-Finalist, Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference 2021
    One of the Top Ten plays on Ken Davenport's "Producer's Pick List," 2019.

    “I think it is absolutely brilliant. It was fascinating to me because of course I was a part of it, but it was the appeal that 'Gypsy" has that [Doug] capitalized on and brought forth in...
    FULL LENGTH, 63 pages

    Semi-Finalist, Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference 2021
    One of the Top Ten plays on Ken Davenport's "Producer's Pick List," 2019.

    “I think it is absolutely brilliant. It was fascinating to me because of course I was a part of it, but it was the appeal that 'Gypsy" has that [Doug] capitalized on and brought forth in a very delicious way.”
    – Lane Bradbury, Dainty June in Gypsy, 1959

    Who has the right to tell your story? Especially when it's the same story told from the differing memories of two legendary show business siblings? And one sister's version is about to become a big, Broadway musical that is also destined to become legendary? June Havoc was famously ambivalent about the show Gypsy, which her sister, the burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee, referred to as her legacy. And in Fable, which is itself a fable about the creation of that musical fable, the sisters' loyalty to each other is tested in a mounting battle that takes place in rehearsal rooms, dressing rooms, onstage, backstage, and all in the memory of the aging Ms. Havoc as she faces her imminent death, still battling with fiction and truth in order to keep her own legacy alive.

    Developed at ESPA/Primary Stages (with Rogelio Martinez), Davenport Playwrights Workshop (with Eric Webb), and in workshops with playwright Karen Hartman.
  • The Fierce Urgency Of Now by Doug DeVita
    Recommendations: 30
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 2 more
    ·
    Keyword: LGBTQ, great roles for women + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, satire
    Keyword: LGBTQ, great roles for women, features LGBTQ characters, great role for older actress, homophobia, ageism, sexual discrimination
    FULL LENGTH, 87 Pages

    WINNER Fresh Fruit Awards of Distinction for Outstanding Play and Outstanding Production
    SEMI-FINALIST: We Screenplay Spring 2021 Diverse Voices Competition

    "The writing is fresh, funny, and smart without striving for hilarity. It hits where it's meant to hit."
    – Nancy Worssam, ArtsStage-SeattleRage

    This fast-moving...
    FULL LENGTH, 87 Pages

    WINNER Fresh Fruit Awards of Distinction for Outstanding Play and Outstanding Production
    SEMI-FINALIST: We Screenplay Spring 2021 Diverse Voices Competition

    "The writing is fresh, funny, and smart without striving for hilarity. It hits where it's meant to hit."
    – Nancy Worssam, ArtsStage-SeattleRage

    This fast-moving comedy follows art director Kyle as he tries to discover his real self amid the power struggles and skewed priorities of a high-powered New York ad agency. After an office restructuring puts him in a new creative group run by the megalomaniac homophobe Kate, he finds an unlikely ally in copywriter Dodo, a living-legend from the era of “Mad Men” who not-so-gently prods Kyle to the uncomfortable but inevitable realization that “It’s time to take off. And soar.”

    An abridged audio version is currently inaugurating the Fresh Fruit Festival's Radio Play Series; a link to the stream is in the "Music Samples" below.
  • The Fierce Urgency Of Now (Radio Script) by Doug DeVita
    Recommendations: 11
    ·
    Cast: 
    8
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: LGBTQ, features LGBTQ characters + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, radio drama, satire
    Keyword: LGBTQ, features LGBTQ characters, features great roles for women, features a great role for an older actress, homophobia, ageism, sexual discrimination
    REVISED FOR RADIO/PODCAST, 68 pages (Link to the stream in "Music Samples" below.)

    This fast-moving comedy follows art director Kyle as he tries to discover his real self amid the power struggles and skewed priorities of a high-powered New York ad agency. After an office restructuring puts him in a new creative group run by the megalomaniac homophobe Kate, he finds an unlikely ally in...
    REVISED FOR RADIO/PODCAST, 68 pages (Link to the stream in "Music Samples" below.)

    This fast-moving comedy follows art director Kyle as he tries to discover his real self amid the power struggles and skewed priorities of a high-powered New York ad agency. After an office restructuring puts him in a new creative group run by the megalomaniac homophobe Kate, he finds an unlikely ally in copywriter Dodo, a living-legend from the era of “Mad Men” who not-so-gently prods Kyle to the uncomfortable but inevitable realization that “It’s time to take off. And soar.”
  • Goddess Of The Hunt by Doug DeVita
    Recommendations: 26
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 5 more
    ·
    Keyword: LGBTQ, great role for a woman + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, farce, mystery/thriller, parody/spoof, romantic comedy, satire
    Keyword: LGBTQ, great role for a woman, great roles for older actors, un-produced, comedy thriller, contemporary myth
    FULL LENGTH, 80 pages

    Semi-Finalist, B Street Theatre 2020 New Comedy Festival.

    Just how well do you know all your "friends" on social media? In this fast-moving "light comedy about dark people leading private lives in public places," when the grieving Charlie Windsor meets the gregarious Diana Black-White in a New York Theater District bar they become instant...
    FULL LENGTH, 80 pages

    Semi-Finalist, B Street Theatre 2020 New Comedy Festival.

    Just how well do you know all your "friends" on social media? In this fast-moving "light comedy about dark people leading private lives in public places," when the grieving Charlie Windsor meets the gregarious Diana Black-White in a New York Theater District bar they become instant BFFs. Much to the consternation of his closest friend since childhood, Broadway actor Ed McGrath, Charlie is almost immediately hurled into an overwhelming whirl of dark secrets, questionable loyalties, and highly dysfunctional family dynamics; a world for which Charlie is completely unprepared. GODDESS OF THE HUNT is a gleefully silly homage to those romantic comedy thrillers of the 1960s via Roman mythology, updated to the creepy, contemporary world of social media and – perhaps too much – information sharing.

    Developed at the Kennedy Center (with Mark Bly and Caleen Jennings) and at ESPA/Primary Stages (with Michael Walkup and Rogelio Martinez.)
  • Just A Rumor by Doug DeVita
    Recommendations: 13
    ·
    Cast: 
    5
    ·
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: great roles for women, great roles for older actors + 4 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, farce, romantic comedy
    Keyword: great roles for women, great roles for older actors, features LGBTQ characters, Hollywood myths, O'Neill Semi-Finalist, un-produced
    FULL LENGTH, 70 pages

    Co-written with Gary Lyons. Based on an idea by Gary Lyons.
    Semi-Finalist, Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference, 2006

    Rosalynne Buchanan and Graham Harris are two Hollywood legends whose dynamic on-screen chemistry sparked an off-screen affair lasting 25 years. In 1968, a few weeks after completing their latest film together, Graham dies in the...
    FULL LENGTH, 70 pages

    Co-written with Gary Lyons. Based on an idea by Gary Lyons.
    Semi-Finalist, Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference, 2006

    Rosalynne Buchanan and Graham Harris are two Hollywood legends whose dynamic on-screen chemistry sparked an off-screen affair lasting 25 years. In 1968, a few weeks after completing their latest film together, Graham dies in the early hours of the morning in the house they both share. Rosalynne (Ross) has no choice but to inform Graham’s wife Leslie of his death. What happens when Ross and Leslie meet for the first time is the premise of “Just A Rumor,” a play that explores the nature of love, celebrity, gossip, truth, and how to get a dead movie star out of the kitchen.



  • The McDougalverse Antholendium by Doug DeVita
    Recommendations: 3
    ·
    Cast: 
    36
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    ·
    Keyword: Family. Gay. Straight. LGBTQ, features gay characters + 1 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama
    Keyword: Family. Gay. Straight. LGBTQ, features gay characters, features roles for older women
    All nineteen plays in the whole damn Phillie McDougal saga in one 231 page "antholendium."

    (Thank you Scott Sickles and Maximillian Gill for the title inspiration.)
  • NELL DASH, The Gruesomely Merry Adventures Of An Irrepressibly Sensible Capitalist With A Vengeance by Doug DeVita
    Recommendations: 15
    ·
    Cast: 
    8–23
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, adventure + 9 more
    ·
    Keyword: great roles for women, great roles for older actors + 4 more
    Genre: adaptation, adventure, comedy, dark comedy, fable/folktale, farce, melodrama, mystery/thriller, parody/spoof, period, satire
    Keyword: great roles for women, great roles for older actors, great roles for young adult actors, great roles for drag performers, 19th Century British Literature, spoof
    FULL LENGTH, 75 pages

    "We had our annual Playwrights Retreat where we read ...NELL DASH... It was the highlight of the weekend. ... there is a great deal of comedy coming from every corner of the dingy world it so effectively creates."
    – Kim T. Sharp | [Former] Associate Artistic Director, Abingdon Theatre Company

    In the alternate London of 1820 during the reign of...
    FULL LENGTH, 75 pages

    "We had our annual Playwrights Retreat where we read ...NELL DASH... It was the highlight of the weekend. ... there is a great deal of comedy coming from every corner of the dingy world it so effectively creates."
    – Kim T. Sharp | [Former] Associate Artistic Director, Abingdon Theatre Company

    In the alternate London of 1820 during the reign of King Stanley V8, Elinor and Marianne Wood, the illegitimate daughters of Sir Henry Dashwood and his cook, have become Nell Dash and Nance. They find themselves whirling up against Fagin, The Artful Dodger, Miss Havisham, Celia and Polly Peachum, and a barber named Todd, among many others. Their vile half-sister-in-law Lady Fanny Ferrars Dashwood, stops at nothing to keep them from getting a single penny of the fortunes accrued from the Dashwood Meat Packing Empire whilst at the same time trying to attain the two strands of pearls given the girls when they fled Devonshire years before, pearls which have mysteriously disappeared and have a strange history of their own.
  • Phillie's Trilogy by Doug DeVita
    Recommendations: 55
    ·
    Cast: 
    7
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: LGBTQ, 1970s America + 5 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, period
    Keyword: LGBTQ, 1970s America, great roles for women, great roles for young actors, abortion, awkward sexuality, priest pedophilia
    FULL LENGTH, 97 pages

    WINNER: Fresh Fruit Award of Distinction, Outstanding Production
    WINNER: Scrap Mettle Arts Emerging Playwrights Competition
    SEMI-FINALIST: Barrington Stage Company Burman New Play Award.
    SEMI-FINALIST: Normal Avenue's New American Play Series
    SEMI-FINALIST: Campfire Theatre Festival 2020

    "In the canon of works that...
    FULL LENGTH, 97 pages

    WINNER: Fresh Fruit Award of Distinction, Outstanding Production
    WINNER: Scrap Mettle Arts Emerging Playwrights Competition
    SEMI-FINALIST: Barrington Stage Company Burman New Play Award.
    SEMI-FINALIST: Normal Avenue's New American Play Series
    SEMI-FINALIST: Campfire Theatre Festival 2020

    "In the canon of works that include The Boys in the Band, Torch Song Trilogy, and Falsettos, DeVita’s play Phillie's Trilogy will stand proud… and equal”
    – Bob Green

    Growing up in the “fabulous” 70s was no picnic for precocious budding writer Phillie McDougal. But despite the nuns, the priests, bullying classmates, and his parents, he lived to tell the tales, with results no one bargained for. Including him.

    Developed at the Kennedy Center (with Jacqueline Goldfinger) and at ESPA/Primary Stages (with Rogelio Martinez.)
  • Upper Division by Doug DeVita
    Cast: 
    4
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: racism in academia, sexism in academia + 3 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, satire
    Keyword: racism in academia, sexism in academia, diverse casting, features roles for older actors, features LGBTQ character
    FULL LENGTH. Work in progress. Sample pages only.

    Elliott Kenson, a tenured professor, and Matt Prentice, who is up for tenure himself (and who was once one of Elliott's students), are charged with creating a brand new curriculum for a selective BFA program in Graphic Design – in three weeks. The two are diametrically opposed to each others views on higher education; add a self-serving...
    FULL LENGTH. Work in progress. Sample pages only.

    Elliott Kenson, a tenured professor, and Matt Prentice, who is up for tenure himself (and who was once one of Elliott's students), are charged with creating a brand new curriculum for a selective BFA program in Graphic Design – in three weeks. The two are diametrically opposed to each others views on higher education; add a self-serving department chair and a foreign exchange student – who is used by all three of them for their own purposes – into the mix, and the hallowed walls of academia come tumbling down. Just your average semester in your average college in America in the 21st century.

    NOTE: An earlier version of UPPER DIVISION was a Semi-Finalist for B Street Theatre's New Comedy Festival. Whatever was funny in that version will (mostly) still be in this version.