“Everything Is Fine Until It’s Not” is a heartfelt comedy about Doreen, a workaholic film producer whose life goes off-script after her son is diagnosed with autism. As she tries everything the experts advise to help her young son become more “normal,” she seeks strength from her mother and aunts, a funny, irrepressible crew of old-school African-American matriarchs born and raised in Newark, N.J. Under the loving yet scrutinizing eye of her mother—who insists she could be a better housewife by ironing her husband’s clothes—Doreen feels like she’s failing her child in the one job that matters most.
Written and produced by Doreen Oliver, who also stars in this one-woman show, and directed by Janeece Freeman Clark, it is a universal story about accepting those you love, even if they’re not who you expected them to be.
The show makes its world premiere as part of the 20th annual New York International Fringe Festival. The remaining performances of the hour-long show at Under St. Marks will be running Aug. 25 at 3 p.m., and Aug. 26 at 7 p.m., with a FringeFAVE show recently added Aug. 28 at 12:30 p.m.
The show holds the record for the fastest sellout in FringeNYC’s 20-year history, after selling out all initial five performances in five days.
As a producer and head of development for Oscar-nominated director Lee Daniels (“Empire,” “The Butler”), Oliver helped bring to the screen such films as the Oscar-winning “Precious” and “Shadowboxer.” She has performed her pieces at the Yale Repertory Theatre, Symphony Space and the South Orange Performing Arts Center, and participated twice in the national storytelling showcase, “Listen to Your Mother.” A member of Mocha Moms in New Jersey, Oliver is a graduate of Yale University and Stanford Business School.
Tickets are $18. For tickets and more information visit www.FringeNYC.org.