Theater Review: POTUS

When is it real life and when is it a farce? Jump at your last few chances to see this show tonight or tomorrow afternoon!

Reviewed by Dennis Wemm
THEATER CRITIC

Directed by Heather McIntosh
Allstate Community Theatre
810 Caroline Street, Fredericksburg, VA, 22401
Tickets available at fredericksburgtheatre.org

The play is called POTUS: Or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive. It was written by Selina Fillinger, directed by Heather McIntosh, and it’s at the Fredericksburg Theatre Ensemble through July 21 at the Allstate Community Theatre downtown. 

What happens when you combine Clue, Rumors, The West Wing, the tight directing of a Coen Brothers movie, a great cast, wonderful tech and timing, and language that would earn an R rating from the MPAA? 

That’s a big order, it needs to be unpacked.

First, it’s not a mystery, though you could call it a caper show. It’s not so much a heist that’s got to be carried out but a possibly necessary cover-up for something that may or may not have happened. It’s a political thriller without a political stance. 

Yes, it’s about women and their ability to solve problems by working together. It’s also about their methods. You’ve got a choice of “Every woman for themselves” or “Hey, we’re the brightest people in every room. Let’s get together and solve a problem.” Guess which gives you the most intense, sustained comic action?

Critic Roger Ebert used the term “idiot plot” to describe one that is “kept in motion solely by virtue of the fact that everybody involved is an idiot.” Fair enough, but what Roger didn’t say is that in some cases the idiocy driving the plot is hilarious in and of itself. In POTUS the frenetic action is. 

But what if the idiocy begins with a three-word phrase used by the said President in public that is completely obscene in mixed company. What if the phrase is overheard by representatives of a foreign power at the worst possible time? How should his harried and edgy staff react? 

These women are all power players who under normal circumstances are the smartest ones in every room. They’re exactly who we see every time we turn the cable news dial to “Washington politics.” 

Their problem is that they’re so used to covering up for the POTUS who has so many secrets that his secrets have secrets. They don’t even stop to question whether these are secrets that need covering up. And they’re not even in the middle of a reelection campaign.

Throw into the mix a few mind-altering substances, a very heavy marble bust, an unsavory presidential relative, some personal relationships that maybe got a little too intensely personal, and a reporter who uses an awkward place to pump. I was especially taken with the wonderfully non sequitur moment featuring the President’s personal secretary, three Secret Service agents, and Bollywood dancing.

Nope, I’m going to stop right there. You’ve gotta see it because the comedy is built on surprise. 

Moving on. The director has done a thing that makes it difficult to react to the overall effectiveness of the cast. There are two casts and only one character is shared between both. I can only speak as to the one at the first matinee performance. If both casts are as completely comfortable in their roles and capable of keeping up the pace, we’re in the presence of a master director.

The cast takes this crazy script with its flaky, driven characters and makes it their own. The acting is so personal that each one becomes their character. This makes for a really intense performance experience especially when the frantic pace really gets going. You cannot even talk about line readings with this group; I was connected to the characters from the first moment of the show, and they became the characters. I’ve seen these people, always from the safe distance of a TV screen or a dinner of political people in one or another of my social/business activities. Their relationships, friendships, enmities, and support system are real. It’s that inner reality that makes the weirdness of the plot work so well.

The frenetic timing works, for the most part. The plots, subplots, schemes, manifestos, and blunders happen so fast that looking away for a moment can lose a critic their place.

The technical work is deceptively simple. The classically decorous set would be at home on any stage or stately mansion. Furniture brought onstage for a moment changes the location of the scene. The Secret Service agents who handle the scene changes do so like ninjas with sunglasses. The lighting and sound crews in the program are relatively large, but if that’s the number it takes to do this show this well, so be it. 

Costumes, makeup, and jewelry immediately announce not only who each character is but what they are. They help create the illusion that we’re immediately in a White House out of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone. 

Now, about the strong language. I have to repeat: this would be a “hard R-rated movie” if the MPAA was in charge of rating it. Every word of it is necessary to the full enjoyment of the work. Parents of children under 18 and very sensitive adults should be warned. It should not keep you away from experiencing the show.

You really should go. The final two performances are Saturday, July 20, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, July 21, at 3 p.m.

Dennis Wemm is a retired professor of theatre and communication, having taught and led both departments at Glenville State College for 34 years. In his off time he was president and sometimes Executive Director of the West Virginia Theatre Conference, secretary and president of the Southeastern Theatre Conference, and generally enjoyed a life in theatre. 

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