{"id":112313,"date":"2026-09-19T15:46:05","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T22:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=112313"},"modified":"2026-09-19T15:54:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T22:54:42","slug":"royal-underground-troupes-satirical-potus-draws-laughs-in-berkeley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/royal-underground-troupes-satirical-potus-draws-laughs-in-berkeley\/","title":{"rendered":"Royal Underground troupe\u2019s satirical \u2018POTUS\u2019 draws laughs in Berkeley"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(L-R) Hannah Mart\u00ednez-Crow as Dusty, Karla Acosta Ormond as Jean and Nicole Naffaa as Bernadette appear in The Royal Underground Theatre Company’s “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” onstage in Berkeley through Sept. 27, 2026. (Jerianne Banson via Bay City News)<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

by Woody Weingarten, Bay City News<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cPOTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,\u201d onstage in Berkeley\u2019s Live Oak Theater, may be just satirical enough, with its thinly veiled references to the current White House.<\/p>\n

But the chaotic all-woman, two-act farce may be a tad too over-the-top. While it\u2019s happily missing the rapid-fire slamming of doors, the foundation of farce, the characters bellowing and yelling at the same time is excessive.<\/p>\n

Still, all seven performers are excellent.<\/p>\n

The best part of the 1\u00be-hour show, presented by the Royal Underground Theatre Company, a \u201cnomadic\u201d 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 \u201cwoke powderpuff\u201d by Hannah Martinez-Crow).<\/p>\n

\"\"(L-R) Jules Weiss as Stephanie, Michele Rabkin as Harriet and Asoula \u201cJasmine\u201d Avegalio as Margaret, appear in The Royal Underground Theatre Company\u2019s \u201cPOTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive.\u201d (Jerianne Banson via Bay City News)<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

Some theatergoers might believe that playwright Selina Fillinger (a writer on Apple TV\u2019s \u201cThe Morning Show\u201d) conceived the story in a crowded sports bar or a makeshift homeless tent city. It\u2019s based on the vulgar \u201cc\u201d word, which, in fact, is the play\u2019s startling first word.<\/p>\n

Each character is adept in her tasks. Some of the women even act as proxies for the offstage president \u2014until West Wing pressures make them more than a little crazy.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Director Anna Oglesby-Smith keeps things tight throughout; audiences don\u2019t know what the next twist, the next enabling action, the next invective, will be.<\/p>\n

\"\"

(L-R) Raven Douglas plays Chris, a reporter, and Asoula \u201cJasmine\u201d Avegalio plays Margaret, the First Lady, in \u201cPOTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive.\u201d (Jerianne Banson via Bay City News)<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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.<\/p>\n

There are outstanding performances by Michele Rabkin as Harriet, the mannish chief of staff who\u2019s appropriately standoffish, until she completely loses it; and Asoula \u201cJasmine\u201d Avegalio as Margaret, the over-educated First Lady who\u2019s perfected a snarl and a sneer.<\/p>\n

Nicole Naffaa as Bernadette, the president\u2019s butch, drug-dealing sister, and Raven Douglas as Chris, a frenetic magazine reporter seeking a scoop, fill out the cast.<\/p>\n

Among the costumes by Maggie Brennan, some silently scream \u201claugh at me, laugh at me,\u201d a message received and followed. It doesn\u2019t matter that the show\u2019s sets are minimal. Its verbal and physical gags are maximal, even though more than a few fall flat.<\/p>\n

Overall, \u201cPOTUS\u201d is easy to enjoy, particularly for those who don\u2019t let themselves get bogged down in gutter language or worry too much about it being a real though distorted reflection of what\u2019s happening today in the part of the White House that hasn\u2019t been bulldozed yet.<\/p>\n

The Royal Underground Theatre Company\u2019s \u201cPOTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive\u201d runs through Sept. 27 at Live Oak Theatre, 1301 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. Tickets are $37.89 at https:\/\/www.theroyalunderground.org.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This article was first published on LocalNewsMatters.org, a nonprofit site supported by Bay City News Foundation http:\/\/www.baycitynews.org\/contact\/.<\/em><\/p>\n

Woody Weingarten can be contacted at www.woodyweingarten.com or www.vitalitypress.com or www.voodee@sbcglobal.net.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  (L-R) Hannah Mart\u00ednez-Crow as Dusty, Karla Acosta Ormond as Jean and Nicole Naffaa as Bernadette appear in The Royal Underground Theatre Company’s “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":3.6,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-woody-weingarten"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"