Are you looking for some political comedy to lighten the mood amid all the political attack ads this Election Day?
This is your final week to see Arena Stage‘s production of “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumba** Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,” which wraps on Sunday, Nov. 12.
“It’s a very political play, but it’s not partisan,” playwright Selina Fillinger told WTOP. “It’s not about Trump, it’s not about Biden, it’s not about any specific president, it’s kind of about all of them. … When you are writing a farce, you want the stakes to be as high as possible. … It’s a hell of a lot of fun. I wrote it to make myself laugh. … It is joke after joke, it’s a lot of physical comedy, it’s everything from highbrow political jokes to lowbrow toilet humor.”
Set in the White House, the story unfolds after the President of the United States publicly calls his wife a “See You Next Tuesday.” All hell breaks loose as seven women attempt to minimize the damage done by male arrogance and political posturing in an endearing homage to the women who keep things running behind the scenes.
“The show follows one really bad day in the White House,” Fillinger said. “It starts with an unnamed, unseen president’s chief of staff and press secretary whispering together about how to contain this one terrible thing that he said. Over the course of 24 hours, the minor scandal completely unravels and spirals into a complete disaster.”
The seven women in the president’s circle are the first lady (Felicia Curry), his chief of staff (Naomi Jacobson), press secretary (Natalya Lynette Rathnam), his personal secretary (Megan Hill), his mistress (Sarah-Anne Martinez), a reporter (Yesenia Iglesias) and his sister (Kelly McAndrew). The original Broadway cast included Lilli Cooper, Lea DeLaria, Rachel Dratch, Julianne Hough, Suzy Nakamura, Julie White and Vanessa Williams.
“I started writing it before Trump was elected,” Fillinger said. “The catalyzing event that brought my pen to paper was the leaked [‘Access Hollywood’] tape when he was talking about grabbing women. … I was fascinated by how the media had to adjust to tell the story. Can we say this on air? … After he was elected and so many white women voted for him, I started to think about ways in which we are complicit in our own subjugation.”
Last year, the show earned three Tony nominations on Broadway, including Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role for both Dratch and White, and Best Scenic Design of a Play for Beowulf Boritt.
“The whole thing takes place in the White House, but it’s very much a stylized White House,” Fillinger said. “On Broadway, we had a very literal, very beautiful, very accurate set. … Arena Stage is the first time I saw it in the round, which is exciting. … Farces typically have a lot of slamming doors, fast entrances, fast exits, mistaken identities and people popping out of things, so doing that in the round with a minimal set was super challenging.”
Of course, performing a political play in the nation’s capital makes it extra special.
“I had never been to D.C. until I came for rehearsals,” Fillinger said. “There’s such a feeling in the air in the city. I was really acutely aware of the tension, the energy, the hum of being near the Capitol, so doing it there and having so many people in the audience who worked in the White House, in the press, in the Capitol, it was a real thrill.”
Listen to our full conversation here.
