Shannon Cochran, Lauren Blumenfeld and Alexandra Billings (Photo by Hunter Kerhart)
Reviewed by Socks Whitmore
Geffen Playhouse
Through Feb. 25
RECOMMENDED
As the American people apprehensively trudge towards one of the most critical election cycles in our nation’s history, the theater offers witty commentary on the current state of affairs behind the red, white, and blue curtain. Geffen Playhouse presents the Los Angeles premiere of POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, a chaotic, gut-busting, and perhaps all-too-accurate depiction of U.S. politics, penned by Selina Fillinger after the 2016 election and first performed on Broadway in 2022. After the President makes a PR blunder that threatens to destroy the country’s global relations, the women of the White House scramble to correct course — but between press panic, angry feminists, an accidental drug overdose, and of course, the Commander-in-Chief’s unmentionable anal abscess, there’s simply no guessing how this unpredictable rollercoaster will end.
The show begins with a grand orchestral overture, indistinct soundbites from fictional news, and the outraged exclamation, “Cunt!” Playwright Fillinger remarks that many regional theaters have seen her “crass play about femme rage” as too provocative, but for the right audience this is precisely the appeal of a raunchy romp through the West Wing. The fast-paced banter and disintegrating decorum put the comedy back in political corruption, using radical farce to imagine the messy humans behind the government’s greatest scandals without filter. From blow jobs to bloody handprints, the mayhem of POTUS highlights the fragility of American politics and entertainingly packages poignant, timely criticism from a feminist lens.
The seven members of the cast have delightful chemistry, offering both stark contrasts to one another and invigorating solidarity. Stephanie (Lauren Blumenfeld), the overly anxious staff aide, and Dusty (Jane Levy), the president’s spirited pregnant mistress, earn special ovations for their shared commitment to physical comedy and unabashed insanity. Margaret (Alexandra Billings), the self-proclaimed “earthy” First Lady, saunters through the show with bright pink Crocs and deliciously vicious comedic timing. The ensemble is rounded out by Harriet (Shannon Cochran), the badass butch chief of staff, Jean (Celeste Den), the justifiably uptight press secretary, Chris (Ito Aghayere), a hard-hitting journalist/breast-pump toting single mom, and Bernadette (Deirde Lovejoy), the President’s lawbreaking younger sibling making an appearance to get her free presidential pardon. The lack of male characters in a government setting is one rarely seen in fiction, and rarer still in real life; the choice to exclude the male “President” from the stage action offers an interesting perspective on the inner workings of political power structures. (though the scene where Chris speaks and responds to an invisible male character downstage is perhaps too heavy-handed an approach to the lack of men.)
The 2D-printed style of the set’s West Wing halls could be taken as a nod to the two-dimensional nature of political appearances. The folding red and blue walls of the set (Brett J. Banakis) are versatile and smartly crafted, allowing for numerous new rooms to be made from rearrangements throughout the show. The actors also traverse the aisles (even those in the balcony) to hilarious effect, adding an exciting layer of immersion.
It goes without saying that a political play will never be able to please everyone, but if you want to see The West Wing meets Wolf of Wall Street — or a coked-out Barbie sequel — POTUS is an audacious, snappy critique of how impossible it is to be a woman in the White House, and the excuses often made for men in power. For an extra treat, be sure to read the “Themes & Topics” segment of the show’s playbill for some baffling true stories from presidential history.
Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., Westwood. Wed.-Sat., 8 pm, Sat., 3 pm, Sun., 2 pm & 7 pm; thru Feb. 18. https://www.geffenplayhouse.org/shows/potus/ Running time: one hour and 40 minutes with one intermission
