Jada Suzanne Dixon directs a raucous, rowdy romp just in time for election season

Curious Theatre Artistic Director Jada Suzanne Dixon has worked her magic once again in the director’s chair for Selina Fillinger’s farce POTUS: Or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive. The first show of Curious Theatre’s 27^th season, it’s got plenty of laughs with fantastic comedic timing and slapstick humor surrounding a public relations disaster for the President of the United States (POTUS).

As the lights come up, we join Harriett, POTUS’ chief of staff, (Tara Falk) and Jean, POTUS’ press secretary (C. Kelly Leo) as they are thrown into a PR crisis from POTUS’ verbal misstep in the morning’s diplomatic session. POTUS (off stage) offends a Bahrainian envoy while trying to explain the absence of the First Lady (FLOTUS). His indelicate choice of vocabulary trips him up as he was apparently unaware that FLOTUS was sitting in the room at the time.

Harriett and Jean are immediately thrust into crisis mode as they confer on how to handle the upset diplomats, the offended FLOTUS and the inevitable questions from the press.  And that’s just the first five minutes.

Harriet and Jean are soon joined by Stephanie, POTUS’ sweet and demure secretary (Leslie O’Carroll) and Margaret, a caricature of FLOTUS played by Natalie Oliver-Atherton. The First Lady desperately wants to up her ratings by appearing more “earthy” wearing her Crocs “that double as a floatation device.”

Kristina Fountaine, C. Kelly Leo in ‘POTUS’ | Photo: Michael Ensminger

Heightened tension

The fervor over POTUS’ misstep in the morning meeting escalates as Chris, a journalist who is returning to work persistently lactating after recently giving birth to twins, appears on scene ready to catch the next breaking story while juggling her breast pump and constant calls from the babysitter. Kristine Fountaine masterfully captures the ongoing tension of a working mom trying to remain professionally fierce.

If that isn’t enough, there’s Dusty (Rhianna DeVries), a naïve, busty young woman from Iowa who shows up gleefully, blue Icee in hand, ready to share her “good news” with POTUS. Also along for the ride is POTUS’ sister Bernadette (MacKenzie Beyer), fresh out of prison to receive an anticipated Presidential pardon from her brother.

Fillinger’s script is hilariously funny and poignant in presenting what the women supporting POTUS must manage behind the curtain and among themselves. Each of the seven women featured in the show has her fair share of lines or actions that trigger uproarious laughter from the audience. Leo’s fiery portrayal of Jean triggered flashbacks of Biden’s first press secretary Jen Psaki, as we might imagine her before she calmly takes the podium to skillfully manage the press.

As the admin Stephanie, O’Carroll initially presents her as a sweet, soft-spoken and demure older woman trying to do her job without getting in the way.  What happens next (without giving too much away) hands O’Carroll — one of Colorado’s most gifted comic actors — the means to steal many of the scenes in the show.

The set by Tina Anderson nicely depicts the West Wing of the White House – with floor- to-ceiling windows, the U.S. flag and the Seal of the Office of the President. A circle of stars is lit on the tile floor.  The action takes place in various locations other than the Oval Office – FLOTUS’ office, the women’s bathroom, the Office of the Chief of Staff. The cast and crew deftly rearrange the various set pieces in between vignettes to bring us quickly to the next scene. The costumes by Brynn Starr Sater are in support – understated professional wear – with added bling for FLOTUS as appropriate.

The soundtrack is also well-chosen. Pre-show, we heard the likes of the Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams,” Alicia Keys “This Girl is On Fire” and KT Tunstall “Black Horse and The Cherry Tree,” among others. During the show, Katy Perry’s “Hear Me Roar” — and several others where the theme was clearly recognizable – underscores the fact that women are not to be underestimated.

As the cast asks more than once after a profoundly spoken monologue from one of the seven: “Why isn’t she the President?”

Perhaps she soon will be.