"Doug is an excellent playwright of great vision. ... Each script has a wit and intelligence, each script shows his full commitment to his vision, his deep compassion for his characters, and the comedy he finds to make the journey that much more enjoyable."
– Kim T. Sharp | [Former] Associate Artistic Director, Abingdon Theatre Company
Contact | doug@dougdevitaplays.com / 917.584.2907
© 2021 | Doug DeVita
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Jason Brantman
Assistant Director / Stage Directions
Jay Michaels
Press Representative / Co-Producer
For Licensing Information, contact:
Gene Kato, Next Stage Press
All other inquiries:
Jay Michaels Theatricals
Fable is available for purchase from
Next Stage Press
eugene O'neill semi-finalist, 2021
“I think it is absolutely brilliant. It was fascinating to me because of course
I was a part of it, but it's the appeal that Gypsy has that Doug capitalizes on
and brings forth in a very delicious way.”
– Lane Bradbury, Dainty June in Gypsy, 1959
author's note
I never met June Havoc, but I did speak to hear many times when she'd call
Abingdon Theatre Company, where I worked as Marketing Director.
One morning June called, and oh, was she in a mood. An(other) upcoming revival of Gypsy had her quite stressed, and she was going to talk to anyone who'd answered the phone. I knew about her antipathy towards the show, I'd read about her efforts to stop it from being done at all; indeed, we'd all been instructed never to bring up the subject of Gypsy with her in any conversation. But this was different: she brought the subject up herself. And while I listened to her raging, for the first time I realized how deeply the show troubled her, even all those years later. She felt – and rightly so – her own life and reputation was misrepresented and her legacy cemented in a fable that would never go away.
Fable. A Fable About A Musical Fable was born out of that conversation. And while I would never lay claim to any truth-telling in this play – it is, after all entitled Fable – I cannot deny that June, like her mother and her sister, was a bit of a fable spinner herself. But I hope I at least shine a spotlight to her side of the story, and entertain you at the same time.