Review: POTUS: OR, BEHIND EVERY GREAT DUMBASS ARE SEVEN WOMEN TRYING TO KEEP HIM ALIVE at Berkeley Repertory Theatre

I was looking forward to a smart feminist perspective on US politics, ripe for mining comic material. Afterall, the show ran on Broadway with a stellar, award-nominated cast. Farce it was, big bold, and raunchy. But I’m scratching my head about the feminist angle. The women presented here act like their male counterparts might, dominating each other, using violence, and barking insults that would make a sailor blush.

The absurd situations are ripe for slapstick comedy; the President publicly  insults his wife (using the c-word) which causes concern amongst our allies, his ditzy pregnant mistress shows up as does his drug-dealing bull dyke sister. POTUS has an anal abscess that’s played for laughs. When he’s presumed murdered by a breast milk pumping journalist, all hell breaks loose. POTUS devolves quickly into a Keystone Cops meets Benny Hill romp largely devoid of any real messages or commentary.

I’m sure the cast are fine actors (Kim Blanck (Jean – His Press Secretary), Allison Guinn (Bernadette – His Sister), Stephanie Pope Lofgren (Margaret – His Wife, The First Lady), Deirdre Lovejoy (Harriet – His Chief of Staff), Susan Lynskey (Stephanie – His Secretary), Stephanie Styles (Dusty – His Dalliance), and Dominique Ariel Toney (Chris – A Journalist),  but you couldn’t tell here with the broad caricaturist format. These are cartoon characters letting it all hang loose with their roles. There were loud guffaws at most of the insult lines levied against each other, particularly when one character tells another to ‘get off my dick’- a very male-centric barb. There’s hallucinogenic drug comedy that goes on way too long, and the slapstick scenes are not well executed.

If silly slapstick is your schtick, you’ll love this show. It ain’t Wilder or Ernst Lubitsch, but a momentary escape from the stress and drama of our lives.

 For tickets and more information, visit https://berkeleyrep.org or call the box office at (510-647-2949).

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