Fresh Fruit Festival Gets FIERCE On The Radio

Doug DeVita's fast-paced comedy, The Fierce Urgency of Now, has multiple lives across the country.

A regional favorite for some time, the play has been turned into a screenplay and is currently in development as a motion picture. In the meantime, playwright/screenwriter Doug DeVita has reworked the piece into a joyous radio-style play.

Fierce follows art director Kyle as he tries to discover his real self amid the power struggles and skewed priorities of a New York ad agency. After an office restructuring puts him in a new creative group run by a homophobic manager, Kyle finds an unlikely ally in copywriter Dodo, a living-legend from the era of "Mad Men," who not-so-gently prods Kyle to the realization that "It's time to take off. And soar." DeVita's own experience in the ad world coupled with his trademark caustic wit makes this play an hilarious parable exposing longtime homophobia and ageism.

Fierce is the recipient of the Fresh Fruit Festival's Outstanding Play and Outstanding Production awards; one of the top recommended Full-Length Plays on New Play Exchange; and publishing by Smith Scripts UK.

The radio play is distinguished by appearance by members from various other DeVita works. Dennis Corsi, director of the Fresh Fruit Festival 2016 production, earning him the Outstanding Production award for his direction, returns to direct a cast that includes Matthew Jellison from the NYC 2016 production; Lisa Viertel and Laura Crouch from the Seattle 2014 production; as well as Joe Moe, the star of the independent film, NIGEL: guys & dolls, DeVita's first foray into turning his plays into films.

The radio production is produced by DeVita and Jay Michaels, promotional manager on DeVita's works and director/producer of NIGEL.

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