By: Darryl Reilly
I was born in Midland but have lived in the east ever since 10th grade when my parents dispatched me to a Connecticut boarding school, and people often ask me what growing up in west Texas was like. I think this sums it up: it’s very hot, it’s very dusty, and it’s very, very windy. It’s like growing up inside a blow-drier full of dirt.
So, states Douglas McGrath at the start of his engrossing self-written and self-performed solo play Everything’s Fine. It is chiefly a chronicle of his harrowing experiences at the age of 14, with a 47-year-old troubled female middle school teacher in the early 1970’s. There are vivid descriptions of life in Texas and beautifully crafted portraits of his friends, parents, siblings and of course Mrs. Malenkov, the unbalanced protagonist. “Deep in the Heart of Texas,” “Teacher’s Pet” and “Come On-a My House” are among the show’s sly song selections.
I was at my locker getting my stuff when I heard Mrs. Malenkov, who was on the other side of the room at her desk, ask someone, “So how was your day?” I turned around to see who she was talking to, and, as it turned out, she was talking to me. I hadn’t realized it, but I was the last kid left in the room.
Since the 1990’s, Mr. McGrath has been an accomplished film director and screenwriter, most notably co-writing Bullets Over Broadway with Woody Allen. Everything’s Fine demonstrates his superior writing abilities; with its lyrical nostalgia and rich details, the script reads like a literary memoir. The treatment of his involvement with Mrs. Malenkov is powerfully rendered thru an aching series of reenactments and presentday observations. Most affective is the saga of McGrath’s Connecticut father’s childhood need for a glass eye which necessitates a trip with his mother to Manhattan in the 1930’s, where seeing a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie at Radio City Music Hall was memorably joyous. The play’s title is the saying McGrath’s father would often declare, especially when things were not fine. McGrath is noted for comedy, and so effective one-liners abound.
As a film actor, McGrath has had featured roles in Quiz Show, Michael Clayton and several Woody Allen movies, showcasing his dry WASP persona. Wearing costume designer Linda Cho’s smart casualwear, in Everything’s Fine he successfully holds forth onstage for 90 minutes with physical and vocal ease, enabling him to enact his unsettling tale in a compelling manner.
That is aided by director John Lithgow’s snappy staging on scenic designer John Lee Beatty’s eerily striking schoolroom set. In 2018, Mr. Lithgow performed his own solo show, Stories by Heart. Having expertise in this theatrical form, Lithgow strategically places McGrath with precision in various areas, creating visual variance and achieving theatricality in concert with lighting designer Caitlin Smith Rapoport and sound designer Emma Wilk’s first-rate contributions.
Everything’s Fine is emotionally resonant, engagingly performed, immaculately presented and thoughtful entertainment.
Note: Everything’s Fine closed prematurely due to Douglas McGrath’s death of a heart attack at the age of 64, on November 3, 2022.
Everything’s Fine (through December 18, 2022)
DR2 Theatre, 103 East 15th Street, in Manhattan
For tickets, visit www.everythingsfineplay.com
Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission