Things come unhinged in POTUS’ White House (Photos by Morgan Sophia Photography/Courtesy Adrienne Arsht Center)
By Bill Hirschman
Timing, of course, is a crucial element in comedy. But it doesn’t hurt that it occurs when the social-political world around you conveniently coincides.
POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive was written six years ago and debuted on Broadway in 2022, but Zoetic Stage’s hysterical edition could not have asked for better timing.
Powered by a glorious septet of actresses and faultless direction, POTUS encompasses everything from puns to physical comedy to knife sharp one-liners to madcap slapstick to post-feminist satire, even a door-slamming chase akin to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Also, expect the most unrelenting (and absolutely justifiable) cavalcade of obscenities from the very first word in this identity-drenched evening.
Playwright Selina Fillinger’s premise is that an incompetent sex-driven president has used a sexually explicit pejorative about his wife in public today and wants to skip a crucial nuclear summit, a veteran’s award ceremony and a speech to the FML group known as the Female Models of Leadership Council.
His excuse is some illness that actually is an equally explicit sex act.
We never see him. What we see is the intelligent, committed but varied array of women surrounding his life and office, most of whom are trying to cope with escalating crises caused by their leader’s irresponsible bungles.
Press secretary Gaby Tortoledo confers with Chief of Staff Elizabeth Price
They include Elizabeth Price as his chief of staff Harriet, Elena Maria Garcia as his secretary Stephanie, Gaby Tortoledo as his press secretary Jean, Karen Stephens as his wife Margaret, Renata Eastlick as reporter Chris, Autumn Kioti Horne as the prez’s sister Bernadette, and Amber Joy Layne as the perky Dusty.
Better, though, to explain:
— Harriet is an extremely efficient aide with frayed nerves desperately trying to get the leader operational and to personally handle a half-dozen of his coexisting disasters;
—-Stephanie is a manic creature who comes completely off the wall after she accidentally takes illegal drugs and then prances around inside a swimming pool inner tube with blood on her face.;
—-Jean is an overwhelmed stalwart who is in a secret lesbian relationship;
—-Margaret is a hyper-achiever long accustomed to her hubby’s inadequacies in all departments;
—-Chris is trying to land a career-making story while balancing phone calls about her children at home;
—-Bernadette is a drug dealer on temporary release to ask her brother for a pardon as she wears an ankle monitor;
—Dusty is an impossibly bubbly former cheerleader who is pregnant with the president’s baby and vomits Icees.
And they all end up in the same elegant White House office intensely trying to keep the country functioning when the President implodes.
The script fuses political commentary, broad humor, British sex farce and several other modes. That requires a director who can mix these together without them seeming cobbled together. Zoetic has Stuart Meltzer to thank for nailing this as deftly and skillfully as anyone could. Granted, the script itself gets so complicated in the closing scenes that it leaves the audience a little behind as the energy pours unrestrained and the parties crash toward each other for the required resolution.
Intentionally, Fillinger want you to see the finale coming early because she makes it clear that any of these women would be better leading the country. Indeed, at one point, someone asks Harriet, “Why aren’t you President?” She doesn’t answer, but the inevitable finale answers that clearly.
Zoetic has an A-plus ensemble of actresses who have been seen frequently in drama but who remind us here of their range with comic talents.
Price, equally known as a local director, instantly projects the essential strength of someone keeping the country in one piece, but beginning to fray.
Once again, audiences are blessed to see Garcia who is this region’s undisputed master, well mistress, of physical comedy. Stephanie’s coming loose is a wonderfully over-the-top characterization with arms and legs splayed in directions you didn’t know bodies could do.
Tortoledo, fresh off playing the lovely heroine in the Maltz’s Gaslight, shines as the press agent desperately trying to stay one step ahead of the melee for the media.
Stephens transforms herself into a First Lady who has had to chart a separate course for her ambition and intelligence, knowing that she too is a better fit to sit behind that Resolute desk in the Oval Office. The wig, bearing and performance will intentionally remind you of a recent contender for that position.
Eastwick, thankfully back home for a while, makes believable Chris’ deterioration from challenging journalist outside the power circle to someone falling apart just like everyone else when she is enmeshed in the insanity.
Horne is irreplaceable as the off the chart sister whose bottle of antacids clearly does not contain antacids.
Layne is a New World School of the Arts grad with experience as a stand-up and improv comedian. Her Dusty is a bottomless Energizer bunny who seems like a cheerleader whose college major was sex.
Michael McKeever’s set design reflects that outer office of the Oval Office bedecked with formal paintings of the previous office holders, plus stylish roll-on furniture and a two-sink bathroom fixture. The stage is lit by Becky Montero, covered with sound by Bailey Hacker and Meltzer, and the cast sports costuming by Dawn Shamburger.
This play was written in the Trump passed to Biden Eras but it delivers echoes of recent months that taunt us among the persistent laughter. It is certainly meant to be a farce, but it may stimulate some discussion on the ride home about what Fillinger calls white patriarchy.
POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive produced by Zoetic Stage and the Adrienne Arsht Center plays through Jan. 26, Wednesdays through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2:30 p.m.; 1300 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami; running time 2 hours; box office (305) 949 -6722; www.arshtcenter.org/tickets/2024-2025/theater-up-close/potus/#tickets
