At a time when national politics feels so tense and inescapable and grim, a play called POTUS might seem like a tough sell — even if you’re already well aware that it’s a comic farce.
Then again, POTUS isn’t a purely political play.
Yes, it’s set in the White House. And, yes, its all-female septet of characters includes the First Lady, the administration’s press secretary and a government reporter whose interactions are set in furious motion by an unseen president.
But it has a more general concern that’s acknowledged only in its lengthy subtitle: POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive. That makes the White House just as likely a setting as many workplaces, and the POTUS just one among scores of possible dumbasses, great or otherwise.
“What I love about this play is that we’re talking about something that is still going on, that still hasn’t changed, and that’s the equality of women. And in this farce, we’re focusing on, in particular, accomplished women,” says Nicole Hicks-Wedge.
Hicks-Wedge plays Margaret — aka the FLOTUS — in the Spokane Civic Theatre’s new studio production of playwright Selina Fillinger’s 2022 Broadway debut. Though her character is strong-willed and nurtures an obsession with firearms that would rival most paramilitaries, she’s still someone that Hicks-Wedge describes as feeling hemmed in by traditional roles.
“She’s having an interview, and she makes a point to list off all of her accomplishments, wildly amazing accomplishments, and yet she’s almost an accessory to the president. She knows she has accomplished just as much as her husband, if not more,” she explains.
“And yet she’s standing in the shadows, looking good, because she has to watch what she wears, watch how she stands, if she’s supporting her husband right. These are things that don’t necessarily factor in for the other sex in that same way.”
Margaret isn’t the only character in POTUS who experiences the lopsided absurdities of the patriarchy. There’s also Jean (played by Lani Call), the frazzled press secretary; Harriet (Melody Deatherage), the president’s loyal but put-upon chief of staff; Stephanie (Sarah Plumb), the timid White House receptionist; and Chris (Rachae Thomas), the White House reporter who’s balancing career and motherhood.
Those five are rounded out by Dusty, the president’s pregnant mistress, and Bernadette, his hapless sister, played by Delaney Kahler and Jamie Sciarrio, respectively. True to the spirit of farce, each character brings her distinct personality to a whirlwind of misunderstandings, pratfalls and door slamming.
Originally, this Civic show had minimal physical comedy and slammed doors. It began life as two staged readings that took place back in 2024, with the first in April of that year, and the second coinciding — quite intentionally — with a presidential election that featured Kamala Harris on the ballot.
Chelsea Duvall, whose most recent turn in the Civic’s studio space was directing 2023’s Dracula, oversaw that staged reading. Its success paved the way for the full production that opens this weekend.
“I’m not really one who quickly goes after outright comedies or farces,” she says. “But I liked that this particular one felt grounded in issues that were relatable to me as a woman and as a woman in leadership.”
Duvall says that her take on POTUS is best encapsulated by two well-known quotes — one from the social activist Angela Davis, the other from the comedy director Mel Brooks — that speak to a strong resolve for social change and the unique ability of humor to restore that resolve when everything else seems bleak.
“Those two quotes encapsulated what I’m really trying to direct the cast towards, which is remembering that at the heart of comedy is humanity, and at the heart of anger or frustration is hurt,” she explains.
Perhaps uniquely for a theatrical genre that trades in over-the-top characters, Duvall’s approach has involved some serious reflection on who these seven women are and what they’re going through.
“Even though we have these huge, beautiful, fantastic, funny things happening, she really wants us rooted in our real characters because that makes it more funny,” Hicks-Wedge says.
“I’m trying to [depict] women that are fully nuanced and remind people that at times there is anger and frustration, but there’s also great humility and passion and vulnerability,” Duvall adds. “So I’m taking a realism approach to these characters. I don’t want them to just fit an archetype. I want them to be multidimensional and make people think.”
Still, any deep philosophizing might have to wait until after the show, when the hijinks have ended and some sense of order is restored. Duvall says that there’s a “Mary Poppins bag full of goodies,” gags about bodily fluids, chase scenes across Peter Rossing’s White House set as well as a catalog of four-letter words that turn POTUS into a raucous escape even as it spoofs real issues.
“We don’t have control in this world. And these women don’t have control about what’s happening to them on stage. That’s part of the story,” she says. “But what a unique gift it is to come and sit in a theater and be present with this madness onstage and laugh.”
POTUS • Feb. 13-March 8; Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm • $20-$35 • Spokane Civic Theatre • 1020 N Howard St. • spokanecivictheatre.com • 509-325-2507