“POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,” onstage in Berkeley’s Live Oak Theater, may be just satirical enough, with its thinly veiled references to the current White House.
But the chaotic all-woman, two-act farce may be a tad too over-the-top. While it’s happily missing the rapid-fire slamming of doors, the foundation of farce, the characters bellowing and yelling at the same is excessive.
Still, all seven performers are excellent.
The best part of the 1¾-hour show, presented by the Royal Underground Theatre Company, a “nomadic” Bay Area troupe established in 2002, is the slapstick of Stephanie, the beleaguered presidential secretary (played hysterically by Jules Weiss) and Dusty (played lustily as a “woke powderpuff” by Hannah Martinez-Crow).
Stephanie, often stoned, wears minimal clothing and an oversized, patriotic life preserver around her waist, and abruptly spouts one of the five languages she speaks. Dusty, a jovial cheerleader-type, doesn’t let having been impregnated by POTUS (the president of the United States) stop her from doing the splits or trying to sexually service civilians as a way of helping the White House staff.
Some theatergoers might believe that playwright Selina Fillinger (a writer on Apple TV’s “The Morning Show”) conceived the story in a crowded sports bar or a makeshift homeless tent city. It’s based on the vulgar “c” word, which, in fact, is the play’s startling first word.
Each character is adept in her tasks. Some of the women even act as proxies for the offstage president —until West Wing pressures make them more than a little crazy.
Theatergoers who like tons of curse words will be happy, even though the barrage becomes unfunny and redundant by the second act. Those who love clever subtitles, exemplified by the one in this show, also will be happy, as will those seeking quarrels between co-workers that signify open rivalries and screwed up relationships.
Director Anna Oglesby-Smith keeps things tight throughout; audiences don’t know what the next twist, the next enabling action, the next invective, will be.
Jean, the overwrought, overwhelmed press secretary (played by Karla Acosta Ormond) has to deal with numerous makings of public relations nightmares: post-feminist fervor, the destruction of historically valuable statuary, frequent presidential sexual misbehavior, a conference on nuclear banning, an anal abscess, and all-too familiar political endorsements and photo ops.
There are outstanding performances by Michele Rabkin as Harriet, the mannish chief of staff who’s appropriately standoffish, until she completely loses it; and Asoula “Jasmine” Avegalio as Margaret, the over-educated First Lady who’s perfected a snarl and a sneer.
Nicole Naffaa as Bernadette, the president’s butch, drug-dealing sister, and Raven Douglas as Chris, a frenetic magazine reporter seeking a scoop, fill out the cast.
Among the costumes by Maggie Brennan, some silently scream “laugh at me, laugh at me,” a message received and followed. It doesn’t matter that the show’s sets are minimal. Its verbal and physical gags are maximal, even though more than a few fall flat.
Overall, “POTUS” is easy to enjoy, particularly for those who don’t let themselves get bogged down in gutter language or worry too much about it being a real though distorted reflection of what’s happening today in the part of the White House that hasn’t been bulldozed yet.
The Royal Underground Theatre Company’s “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” runs through Sept. 27 at Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. Tickets are $37.89 at https://www.theroyalunderground.org.
Woody Weingarten can be contacted at www.woodyweingarten.com or www.vitalitypress.com or www.voodee@sbcglobal.net.