After the debate, a little dessert: ‘POTUS’ brings political pratfalls to the Arden Theatre

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The two presidential candidates who appeared at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia this week got laughs.

At a Republican watch party Tuesday night at the Kimpton Hotel in Old City, the crowd roared when Kamala Harris suggested people attend a Donald Trump rally. The room then quieted when she dropped the second part of her suggestion, that onlookers would notice people leaving his rally early out of “exhaustion and boredom.”

That’s what got a big laugh across town at McGillin’s tavern, where Democrats were hosting their own watch party.

Politics can be funny, but a lot depends on what side of the aisle you’re on, said Jennifer Childs, director of “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,” now running at the Arden Theatre in Old City.

“When you’re in a rivalry, you feel like the other side has power. Whenever their power is taken away, you laugh,” she said. “Your guy makes a statement that makes them look bad. Boom. That’s going to get a laugh because you feel the balance of power shift.”

The fact that “POTUS,” Selina Fillinger’s comedy set in the White House that premiered on Broadway in 2022, is onstage just three blocks away from what was the epicenter of American politics just three days ago, is entirely coincidental. The Arden Theatre programmed this play five months ago, well before American politics experienced a tectonic shift: before President Biden’s disastrous debate in June, before Harris’ ascendence to candidacy, and before Harris and Trump clashed right down the street.

“We didn’t see any of this coming,” said Arden artistic director Terry Nolen.

Unlike the debate, the laughs in “POTUS” are not partisan. The story tracks seven women associated with a president embroiled in a marital scandal that quickly snowballs to global proportions. The president himself never appears onstage and is never referred to by name, and the party he represents is never mentioned.

“Everybody is going to watch with their own lens. There are certainly times where you go, ‘Oh, that’s Clinton. Oh, that’s Trump. That’s Reagan.’ I’ve been saying there’s a little Martin Van Buren in there, too,” said Childs. “The one thing that they share, no matter Republican or Democrat, is they’ve all been male. That’s really part of the focus of this play.”

The play is, in part, a farce with an ensemble bouncing off each other in a highly volatile situation. The pratfalls and chaos accelerate as pressure mounts.

The tone is evident right there in its title: “Dumbass” is a tame introduction to the script’s adult wordplay.

“It lets you know up front that it’s going to be a little profane,” Childs said. “There’s a little bit of “Noises Off.” There’s a little bit of Lucille Ball. There’s a little bit of David Mamet. The language in this play, we’re not used to hearing women talk with each other this way.”

The seven women in this all-female comedy do not see eye to eye. In addition to assistants and spokeswomen, the group onstage includes the First Lady, the president’s chief of staff and his mistress.

All of them wield different spheres of power. That’s where the funny lives.

“His chief of staff has more power than his wife because she has access to his calendar,” Childs said. “There’s grappling with each other as to how to handle all of these situations, and there are times when the women are fighting against each other. Then ultimately they are a united front fighting against something else that is happening outside of them.”

Childs is simultaneously preparing another political play, “This Is the Week That Is,” in October with her own company, 1812 Productions. She is a close watcher of politics and said it is impossible to cater “POTUS” to the current race for the White House, which is far too tumultuous to pin down.

It surprised Childs to discover that one of the refrains repeated by women in the play — some variation of “Why aren’t you president?” — has added resonance at this moment in America.

“The roller coaster ride that we’ve been on throughout this election has been really kind of incredible,” she said. “Prior to Harris being at the top of the ticket, we were looking at just more of the same, with two candidates who’ve been in that office before. Literally more of the same. Now, no matter what side of the aisle you’re on, there’s a new energy about the campaign, which feels different.”

“POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” runs from Sept. 12 to Oct. 13 at the Arden Theatre.

Editor’s note: Billy Penn/WHYY reporter Nick Kariuki contributed to this story.