We’re in the middle of a contentious presidential race, exacerbating the already deep divisions in our electorate. Jobsite’s production of POTUS, then, will remind audiences that there’s at least one thing the left and right can agree on: government and politics are still comedy gold mines.
Subtitled Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, the story shows the staff and other women around an unnamed and unseen U.S. president trying to protect him from a crisis of his own making.
POTUS will open Jobsite’s 2024-’25 season. Director Summer Bohnenkamp (also the Straz’s chief commerce and marketing officer/executive producer) said the play is “fast-paced, whip-smart and fairly filthy as well.”
Summer said she’s delighted “I get to work with super talented women and that they have to be fast, fierce, and hilarious.”
They’ll also have to be nimble to navigate the script’s quick comings and goings. At least they won’t have a lot of props to avoid bumping into.
“The set is just five doors and columns to represent the White House,” Summer said, which better accommodates a show with a more workable design for a show “with so much movement, with people going in and out at a super fast pace.”
The cast features actresses familiar to Jobsite audiences and Tampa theater audiences in general.
Among them are Andresia Moseley as First Lady Margaret; Katrina Stevenson as Chief of Staff Harriet; Noa Friedman who just finished her run as Janet Weiss in The Rocky Horror Show; and Caroline Huerta as the president’s secretary, Stephanie. Straz audiences will remember Caroline for her hilarious turn this spring as Joyce in Stranger Sings!, a musical spoof of the Netflix series Stranger Things.
“It’s definitely an ensemble piece,” Summer said. “All of the women in the audition just really brought it. They were in it to win it. But they were all so supportive of each other. I think that’s a really great sign about how they’re going to be as teammates on stage. Every single one of them has a really vital role in the play.”
Playwright Selina Fillinger’s script avoids partisanship, an admirable feat in this political climate. That’s not to say, though, that it doesn’t have an opinion.
“There are no party lines mentioned,” Summer said. “There is a theme of ‘Why aren’t you president’ running through the work. POTUS’ chief of staff in particular, I think, is worthy of being president as she’s been behind the scenes building this person’s success.
“As much as it’s very funny, it’s also saying, ‘Why are we second fiddle to this dumbass?’” Summer said. “He’s certainly a less than savory character. They really are trying to keep him alive. Then they all sort of wonder why.”
POTUS, or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive will be presented Sept. 4-29 in the Shimberg Playhouse.