RED BARN’S “POTUS” IS ONE VERY FUNNY FEMALE-DRIVEN TOUR-DE-FORCE

RED BARN’S “POTUS” IS ONE VERY FUNNY FEMALE-DRIVEN TOUR-DE-FORCE

It would be hard to deny that politics in this day and age has pretty much distilled itself down into a daily dose of outright farce. Just turn on any TV news channel for five minutes, and it’s obvious. Things are out of control.

So it makes perfect sense that Selina Fillinger, one of the brilliant writers for Apple TV’s mega-hit, “The Morning Show” – a very funny and caustic skewering of cable TV news — would turn her eye and pen to the focus of a lot of that news: the Oval Office and the creatures that inhabit it.

The result is the very funny “POTUS: Or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive,” a hilarious cross between “Saturday Night Live” and “Veep”.

Fillinger’s very funny, all female-driven play will plunge the Red Barn Theatre stage into political chaos January 30 through February 24. The show will feature a Who’s Who of Key West’s top female actors, including George DiBraud, Jessica Miano Kruel, Susannah Wells, Lauren Thompson, Annie Miners, Lynne Casamayor, and Fritzie Estimond. It will be directed by the Barn’s artistic director, Joy Hawkins.

One of the cleverest conceits of the play is that we never see the President. We only hear about the PR nightmare he’s managed to spin into a global crisis. And it’s up to the seven brilliant and beleaguered women he relies upon most to risk their lives, their liberty, and their sanity to keep the Commander-in-Chief out of trouble.

There’s the super-sophisticated First Lady; the President’s sister (newly released from prison and the White House’s unofficial drug dealer); a pushy White House correspondent pursuing an interview with FLOTUS; POTUS’s meek secretary unable to cope with any of it; an outspoken, sexually-liberated young woman from a farming community who shows up and happens to have a surprising (though predictable) connection to the President; and that’s just for starters. Add in a press secretary and a Chief of Staff, and the mix gets quite volatile.

All these women are strong, opinionated characters, and Fillinger has them demonstrating that women in politics can be every bit as crass, brazen, bold, and – yes – deviant as the men in the halls of power. They are competent women cleaning up after incompetent men. And the result is just flat-out hilarious, filled with witty zingers and good, off-color fun – just what you’d expect from a writer of Fillinger’s abilities.

One important caveat: Be aware that Fillinger is not shy about using raw, crude language in her play. It’s salty, suggestive, and may be offensive to some audience members. But if you’ve already heard it all, you should be fine.

POTUS was written in the aftermath of the Trump years and reflects much of the chaos of that time. It was nominated in several categories in both the Drama League Awards and the Tony Awards in 2022. The Washington Post said, “The votes have been tabulated.  POTUS…is a winner!” The NY Times called it “Gleeful…a rough and tumble feminist comedy.”

Tickets for “POTUS: Or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive” are available at redbarntheatre.com or by calling 305-296-9911. The production is sponsored in part by Sugar Loaf Lodge, Michelle Grahl of Key West Compass Realty – Keller Williams, Culture Builds Florida, and the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.

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