“POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” by Selina Fillinger. Directed by Paula Plum. Scenic Design by Jenna McFarland Lord. Sound Design by Aubrey Dube. Lighting Design by Karen Perlow. Costume Design by Rebecca Glick. Fight Choreography by Angie Jepson. Presented by Speakeasy Stage at the Calderwood Pavilion, Boston, through October 15.
By Shelley A. Sackett
Hands down, “POTUS” takes the prize for the most winning opening scene currently on stage in Boston. It is shriek-out-loud funny, clever, pithy, lightning-paced, and uncompromisingly no-nonsense.
The setting is The White House, not exactly the Trump administration, but also not exactly not the Trump administration. Two pantsuit-clad women are in mid-conversation when the audience joins them.
Chief of Staff Harriet (Lisa Yuen) is filling in Press Secretary Jean (Laura Latreille) on the morning’s diplomatic meeting and on what POTUS did that she, as press liaison, will have to spin at the press briefing that is about to start.
The play’s first line sets the tone for the rest of the evening. “Cunt,” says Harriet, lassoing Jean’s and the audience’s attention. Apparently, POTUS excused his wife Margaret’s absence by saying she was having a “cunty” day. Beyond the use of the “C” word, the even bigger trouble is that Margaret was in the room. The whole time. Sitting (obscured) right in front of POTUS.
Not to worry. Jean’s job, after all, is to support and protect POTUS and, despite his worst instincts and basest actions, keep him (and herself) in power. She is used to donning rubber gloves and cleaning up the mess. “That’s not so bad. We can contain that,” she says, brightening. “We all have cunty mornings sometimes. My son has them every week.”
Playwright Selina Fillinger’s “POTUS” is aptly subtitled, “Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive.” She has populated her farce/satire with seven strong behind-the-scenes women whose sole purpose is to keep a dangerous and inept man in office, not because they believe in him, but because the only way they are allowed near the epicenter of power is by clinging to his coattails.
In addition to Harriet and Jean, the other women in the president’s inner circle are his savvy, earthy, and jaded wife Margaret (Crystin Gilmore) and his neurotic, perfectionist personal secretary Stephanie (Marianna Bassham). Clearly, these women are the only reason he has a job. They are brilliant, dedicated, and gifted at damage control. What they aren’t is respected, acknowledged, or valued by anyone except each other.
“Why isn’t SHE president?” is the common refrain as each rises to the next challenge and douses the next blaze. The answer boils down to one word — patriarchy. “People don’t love him,” one character explains. They’re just afraid of the alternative — US!”
Add to the mix his cocky, queer, convicted-felon sister Bernadette (Johanna Carlisle-Zepeda), Chris, the recently post-partum reporter whose attire includes breast pump attachments (Catia), and the president’s pregnant girlfriend Dusty (the impossibly flexible Monique Ward Lonergan), and you have all the ingredients for a no-holds-barred satirical farce. There is a little of everything, from door slamming, slapstick, sight gags to dramatic anarchy, comic invective, and mistaken identity.
There’s even a bottle of psychedelic tabs masquerading as Tums.
Yet beneath all this droll merriment are serious messages for these serious times. According to Fillinger, those messages may be political, but they are hardly partisan. The pain and rage that underpin the biting humor in her words are aimed squarely at the White Patriarchy that keeps women in their places and men like POTUS in his.
Director Paula Plum has plumbed the sizeable talents of her extraordinary cast to create an ensemble where each individual performer shines, and the whole is even greater than the sum of its parts, no small feat with these remarkably gifted women.
Jenna McFarland Lord has created the perfect set, part “Laugh-In,” with lots of doors to open and slam, and part Pee Wee’s Playhouse, where even the pictures are askew. The result is a dizzying, unhinged quasi-reality, mirroring the conditions our heroines face daily.
Despite her use of potty language, piercing wit, and crude jokes (most of which hit their mark), Fillinger has a serious point to make. What would it be like if these skillful, thoughtful women were able to spend their time actually running the world instead of covering and cleaning up after the inept dumbass who was elected to perform that duty but can’t? Is that idea really that scary?
Asked what she hopes audiences take away from seeing “POTUS,” Fillinger said, “I hope they wake up the next day and put their money, time and votes towards equity and freedom for all,” to which we add, “Amen.” For tix and information, go to: https://speakeasystage.com/
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