POTUS Or, Behind Every Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive by Selina Fillinger is a fast-moving farcical comedy set in the White House during a fictional presidency. The President has (yet again) said something awful at the worst possible moment. His chief of staff Harriet (Christina Jioras), her beleaguered intern Stephanie (Ximena Gutierrez) and press secretary Jean (Abigal Camerino) do whatever it takes to prevent international fallout. The pressure builds with a re-election campaign looming, more secrets coming home to roost and intrepid reporter Chris (Jennifer Whiteside) determined to get the truth out. There are witty puns, sick burns and one character on hallucinogens running around in an innertube.
This Redwood Curtain Theatre Co. production has an all-star cast. Each actress creates memorable, wholly unique characters. Jioras is a commanding presence on stage, easily convincing us Harriet is in control of everything, all the time. Camerino is a comedic genius, giving Jean so much expression and snark that we root for her immediately. Those two together make every scene burst with explosive energy. Gutierrez tempers Stephanie’s frantic energy with a forceful optimism. While she is bounced around like a pinball by the others, there is never a doubt she is exactly where she wants to be — even when First Lady Margaret, imbued with the elegance, authority and poise of a queen by Cynthia Martells, tries to bully past her into a room. Whiteside plays reporter Chris with a grounded, tenacious energy, doggedly pursuing a cutthroat career while providing for her family (quite literally — there’s a breast pump involved) as a single mom.
Caroline Needham gives another kind of bounce to Dusty as the president’s mistress. Dusty starts as an annoying, naïve outsider but when the chips fall, she has the courage to use her unique set of skills for the cause. Needham pulls contradictory aspects of Dusty together, combining innocent horniness with worldly understanding to create a surprisingly complex character. Jessy McQuade is a bold and blustery Bernadette, the president’s convicted drug-dealing sister. She offers us a peek at the underbelly of the institution and seems to relish keeping the other characters a little off-kilter.
Director Cassandra Hesseltine has gathered seven contradictory, contrasting characters and woven them together into a complex tapestry on stage. This is a fast-paced play, with the intensity steadily ramping up, which can make any hesitation or slack in pace stand out more than it should. While there were a few rare moments where maybe a beat was skipped, the overall energy of the cast and audience kept the juggernaut of comedy rolling on.
The set by Robert Pickering has a patriotically themed forced perspective that gives the impression of a large, complex interior while leaving plenty of room for the actors. There are a few times when it’s a bit unclear which room a scene is taking place in, or what exactly is happening off-stage. The action moves so quickly, though, and with so much happening (and so much laughing) that my mild confusion didn’t keep me from keeping up with the story. The lighting design by Mike Foster helps separate spaces and drawing my attention to the important parts at important moments. Hughes’ costumes are spot on for each character, giving visual insights without falling into stereotypes.
This is a political play and these are political times, but pulling your boss’s ass out of the fire is a bi-partisan situation; something anyone who hasn’t been a president can relate to. It’s an explicitly feminist story as well, told from the viewpoints of the women in various relationships, professional and personal, with the president and each other. Whether you find their stories relatable or eye-opening, they ring true. The dialogue is sharp and witty, the action tight, and the satirical take on what happened behind-the-scenes moves along quickly with intense physicality. The comedy is so engrossing that when the heartbreak comes, it takes one’s breath. The characters grow and change by the end of the play, with only the off-stage president eternally the same.
Performances of Redwood Curtain Theatre Co.’s POTUS Or, Behind Every Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive at 5th and D Street Theater continue through April 6 with 8 p.m. performances Fridays and Saturdays, and at 2 p.m. on Sundays. Visit ncrt.net.
Doranna Benker Gilkey (she/her) is a long time Humboldt County local who thinks it’s important to support local arts however you can.
COMING SOON
Michelle Matlock’s one-woman show exploring the cultural legacy of Aunt Jemima, The Mammy Project, comes to Dell’Arte’s Carlo Theatre March 27-29. Ages 17 and up. Call (707) 668-5663 or visit dellarte.com.
Whodunnit? It’s Clue in the Van Duzer Theatre with the Cal Poly Humboldt Department of Dance, Music and Theatre from March 28 through April 5. Visit tickets.humboldt.edu.
Southern drama is in bloom when Steel Magnolias comes to Ferndale Repertory Theatre March 28 through April 20. Call (707) 786-5483 or visit ferndalerep.org.
This article appears in Youngest North Coast Condor Dies of Lead Poisoning.