18th Play - POTUS, Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive by Selina Fillinger

A farce about seven smart women trying to handle the president and being WAY smarter than he could ever be? Yes, please!

Summary: “One four-letter word is about to rock 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. When the President unwittingly spins a PR nightmare into a global crisis, the seven brilliant and beleaguered women he relies upon most risk life, liberty, and the pursuit of sanity to keep the commander-in-chief out of trouble.” Concord Theatricals

Laura’s thoughts in brief: I mean, what’s not to like about this setup? Bear in mind that we never see the president, they just try to manage him. I love that these women are wonderful three-dimensional characters who are smart smart smart. But even all these smarts cannot save them from the messes that he has stirred up. I both liked and disliked the character of Bernadette, the President’s drug dealer sister on parole; I thought she was a fun character, but her scenes stretched the limits of my suspension of disbelief. The introduction of Dusty, the President’s YOUNG (creepy) and fresh-faced pregnant Iowa girlfriend, also stretches that suspension. That being said, Dusty is a way more interesting character that you would expect. Fellinger gives each character some wonderful specifics that bring them to life very vividly: Dusty is vomiting blue raz slushies (because they were buy-one-get-one-half-off, of course), Chris is desperately trying to find a space to use her breast pump somewhere in the White House, Stephanie has a “BitchBeats playlist” to get her psyched up to do the things in her job that she finds challenging, like corralling the First Lady, etc. Aaron Sorkin himself would appreciate some of the great lines: “I will not allow her to ruin this by sending some spineless, sweaty, saltine of a human.” (To Dusty) “YOUR NAME IS AN ADJECTIVE: DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO.” “Is this day about to become an oozing pustule on the anus of my week?” “If you don’t get out of my way I will shred you like the sad cardigan you are.” “How would you say your morning is going, on a spectrum of cocky to cunty?” “Nice, I love the smell of imperialism in the morning.” “All your staff look like sweaty Beanie Babies.” “Put a hand on me, kid, I bite it off.” And more. The second half of the play sort of devolves as the situation gets less believable, with an accidental murder and Stephanie high as a kite. Less clever, less interesting. But this play is a great farce with a lot of fun, even if it’s still about a man, sigh. Although that was sort of the point. It was not the most memorable show I’ve ever read, but who doesn’t enjoy a farce? Especially ones with smart smart smart women spouting Sorkin-level smart dialogue. I would very much enjoy seeing, being in, directing this one!

READ MORE! Here’s what others had to say about productions:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/27/theater/potus-review-broadway.html

https://ew.com/theater/potus-on-broadway-is-a-foulmouthed-political-funhouse-farce/

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/11/6/23949112/potus-review-steppenwolf-chicago-theater

https://chicagoreader.com/performing-arts/theater/theater-review/potus-is-painfully-funny/