No matter how involved someone is in politics, there’s always something to laugh at. Whether it’s a microphone gaffe in a debate, or a misspelled social media post, comedy brings both sides of the aisle together in the current highly-emotional political climate.
Turning the follies of government into a comedic romp is a ripe idea for expansion to the stage, something the Geffen Playhouse has taken an interest in. The theater’s first show of 2024, held at the Gil Cates Theater, is the Los Angeles premiere of POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, featuring a star-laden cast directed by Jennifer Chambers.
POTUS tells the tale of seven women behind the scenes at the White House attempting to clean up a public relations disaster, echoing multiple situations from past presidencies. Many will think of the numerous gaffes of 45th President Donald J. Trump, and while Trump’s infamous Access Hollywood tape was one inspiration for playwright Selina Fillinger, she considers the play an "amalgamation" of recent events where women remained complicit to mistreatment by men in power.
"I really started thinking about complicity, and I think that’s when the play kind of changed … [into] a battle cry," Fillinger said. "I was never writing about Trump, I was writing about a system that sort of allows certain type[s] of behavior from men in power, and over the course of my writing it, we had so many things happen."
The play took Fillinger about 18 months to pen, after which it sat dormant due to the work being a little "squeamish" for some theaters to produce. Eventually, after receiving placement on the prestigious Kilroys’ List of highly recommended plays by female authors, POTUS ended up in the hands of Broadway producer Greg Nobile, who eventually helped guide the show to 126 Broadway performances at the Shubert Theatre in 2022. Performed in a host of regional theaters and major cities since the Broadway run, Fillinger noted that the comedy has had an "amazing response" from people of all ages.
The playwright said that she never set out to write about patriarchal systems, but rather write about characters navigating the contemporary world, in which these systems and circumstances are "present everywhere." She added that she identifies with all seven of the leading women, who are all "incredibly different" with elements she connected to different time periods of her life.
"I wanted to honor all the things that I love about women, and the ways that our friendships and our relationships, our hope and our resilience, and all these things I love, while also holding us accountable for the ways in which we are complicit," Fillinger said. "The ways in sometimes we misbehave and participate in these toxic systems. I wanted to see if I could do both. I guess I’m just always interested in the people behind the scenes and the people that the camera isn’t focusing on."
Fillinger stopped in to check on early production at the Geffen, complementing the cast and crew on its professionalism. The play stars Broadway veterans like Ito Aghayere as Chris, who also recently played the role of Guinan on Star Trek: Picard. Other featured roles are Alexandra Billings as Margaret, Lauren Blumenfeld as Stephanie and Shannon Cochran as Harriet. The playwright called POTUS a "deceptively challenging" and "technically hard" production, something Chambers and the Geffen team took on in stride.
"In order to execute this comedy, [Chambers] was charged with putting together an incredible ensemble of actors," Geffen Associate Artistic Director Amy Levinson stated. "And deliver she did. This cast has brought POTUS to life with such verve and hilarity. Together, they make the breakneck pace, precision logistics, and physical demands of the play look easy — or more accurately, look like absolute chaos." Levinson also complemented the show’s design team, which took the "formality of the White House and turned it into an obstacle course set for mayhem."
Showtimes for POTUS take place throughout February, with nightly showings on Wednesday-Friday as well as a matinee and evening performance on Saturdays and Sundays, through Feb. 25. Tickets for the show at the Gil Cates Theater, 10886 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, can be purchased on the Geffen website. Prices for tickets range from $77-$139.
Fillinger added that the Los Angeles premiere is a notable one due to the "great community" of entertainment and comedy fanatics in the area.
"I feel like there’s a comedic vocabulary here, and so people really understand satire and understand comedy in a way that perhaps other cities may not … we have so much entertainment here in Los Angeles, and there’s so much that we’re being exposed to, so I hope that makes people really amped and really excited to see it," she said. "If they’re watching these great comedies on [television], they’ll like a great comedy on stage."
