Actor Jim DeVita: ‘We Need to Talk’

For Jim DeVita, an actor, director, and playwright, the classics grant us a sophisticated language with which to discuss complex ideas vital to our welfare.

Jim DeVita in an APT production of “An Iliad,” directed by John Langs. Zane Williams

For Jim DeVita, an actor, director, and playwright, the classics grant us a sophisticated language with which to discuss complex ideas vital to our welfare.

“We need complex language to communicate ideas so that we can make changes in our lives, our culture, and so that we can live fully. We need vivid language. It gives us a vocabulary to communicate what’s in our hearts,” he said in a phone interview on June 27, 2015.

The actor first fell in love with language—a love that turned into a long marriage—through a life-changing moment.

Although classical theater repertoire has been his bread and butter for a good part of nearly 30 years, he considers himself a blue-collar kind of guy. He flunked out of community college twice and spent five years as a Long Island fisherman.

We need vivid language. It gives us a vocabulary to communicate what's in our hearts.

— Jim DeVita, actor, director, playwright