Jim DeVita is a well-known name in the Wisconsin theater world. He’s a core company member of American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin. That theater was recently selected to receive the 2026 Regional Theatre Tony Award.
In addition to acting and directing, DeVita has written novels and was a resident playwright with First Stage Theatre.
Now, using the pen name James Cleary, he has released a post-apocalyptic thriller called “Sanctuary.” It takes place in a world damaged by climate disasters, where some survivors retreat to a bunker.
DeVita says a character named Maia, who journals, is central to the story.
“I really hear the story through her," he says. "I think she's, for me, the heart of the book. She's as conflicted and confused as anybody else. She sees what's happening, what's wrong. She also sees how she's been complicit in her own life in some of the things that happen. I love her because she's cursed with self-awareness and she calls herself on her own stuff sometimes too, which I like."
The reader gets to know multiple characters and the relationships they form through short snippets throughout the book.
“I say it's a big ensemble, because I will always use theater references,” DeVita says.
As for the book’s title, DeVita says he settled on "Sanctuary" because it’s a complicated word.
“It's both safety too, but also in sanctuary — and I have some definitions of it in the book — there's also sometimes an obligation to pay homage to the person giving you sanctuary. So that's where it gets a little complicated. Maia says this in the book. You know, she has opinions about the way this billionaire has spent his life, but she's alive because of him. So right there, it's a complicated relationship. She's aware that she's in this bunker and the reason she's eating and breathing air is because of how this man prepared. And she wrestles with that,” DeVita says.
He thinks many of us share the struggle of how our actions hurt the environment.
“And I speak for myself, I'm trying not to use too much Amazon, but I do, and that's all connected,” DeVita says.
In the course of writing the book, did DeVita become increasingly concerned, alarmed or energized about the climate crisis?
"I'm trying to avoid despair,” DeVita says. “These things that I've used are actually happening. People are actually building bunkers. People are accelerationists, you know. So I'm not just concerned for my kids, for my grandchildren now — how we're gonna come together as a country again. And you know there are bad guys and good guys in any kind of story like this, but I do try to give viewpoints from both sides. I'm not a fan of, in theater or writing, of things that tell me how to live. But I do like to provoke.”
Spring Green has been home to the DeVitas for many years. He says his small town experience influences his writing.
“I was an EMT for 15 years here," he explains. "And I feel like the book feels, and is, a victory for the town, which I love. Like our launch here had over 200 people. And Arcadia Books here, they feel like it's theirs, which is so lovely."
