If there were an award for funniest, dripping-with-sarcasm director’s note, Missy Barnes would win it hands down for her playbill musing on “POTUS (Or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive).”

“In the world of this play,” Barnes writes, “the leader of the nation is a narcissistic, self-indulgent dolt who remains unaware of his own incompetence. Fortunately, ‘POTUS’ is a work of fiction. Nothing like the events portrayed could ever happen in a well-governed country like the United States in the 21st century.’”

OK, then.

“POTUS,” which had a Broadway run in 2022, is onstage at Rollins College in Winter Park. There are many cultural happenings taking place around Central Florida to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday; this decidedly is not one of them.

Instead, Selina Fillinger’s farce is a bitingly funny indictment of how government works: Everyone bending over backward to protect the idiot or idiots in charge.

If you’re looking for a feminist bent based on the title, I’m not sure you’ll find one. The titular seven women are all capable in varying degrees — but they also show themselves equal to men in lying, criminal activities and trading sexual favors to get what they want. Is it a race for equality to the bottom?

In today’s political climate — as U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi blusters and deflects before Congress — “POTUS” feels as though it’s actually pointing the finger at those who enable unprincipled leadership, regardless of their gender.

The social messaging might be muddy, but the comedy is clear-cut: Anybody who ever has had a bad day at the office can relate. The (unseen) president has caused a crisis by using a particularly offensive term related to women — let’s call it the “c-word,” and note that the play is full of rough language and sexual content — in front of the press corps and some diplomats.

A young interloper (Drea Cusano) intimidates Stephanie, the president’s secretary (Sierra Haila) in “POTUS,” onstage at Rollins College. (Courtesy Tony Firriolo)

At the same time, the president’s much younger mistress and his jailbird sister — seeking an undeserved presidential pardon — have arrived at the White House, where the first lady is preparing for a puff-piece interview with a journalist who has shockingly free access to roam the White House unattended. Oh, right, I almost forgot it was fiction.

These various crises come to a head against the backdrop of the president hosting a crucial summit over a nuclear-arms deal, leaving his press secretary and chief of staff in a frazzle.

Playwright Fillinger follows the rules of farce faithfully: The level of frantic builds as doors on Ira Reilly Merritt’s elegantly simple set are opened and slammed, but the further the play moves from its Washington-focus to scenes of women chasing other women on and off the stage, the more generic it starts to feel.

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Director Barnes has assembled a game and fun-to-watch cast. In particular Kayla Michelle Pisano and Darcy Gonzalez, as the chief of staff and press secretary, display the fine comic art of unraveling in style. Drea Cusano also makes a particularly strong impression as the young mistress who has hidden depths.

And Barnes has done fine work in building the tension, even if she lets some actors get too shouty — which only exacerbates the echoey quality of the high-ceilinged Albrecht Studio Theatre.

The best example of feminism is found in how well this show is put together. I’ll let Barnes have the last word in her clever director’s note.

The president’s press secretary (Darcy Gonzalez, left) and chief of staff (Kayla Michelle Pisano) are desperate to hold things together in “POTUS,” a farce about the efforts to keep a president’s ineptitude under wraps. It’s onstage at Rollins College. (Courtesy Tony Firriolo)

“Working with an all-female cast, stage management and directing team has been a great pleasure,” she wrote. “Somehow, we were able to mount this complex piece without having men around to explain things to us.”

Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find more entertainment news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com/entertainment or sign up to receive our weekly emailed Entertainment newsletter.

‘POTUS’

• Length: 1:45, including intermission

• Where: Sally K. Albrecht Studio Theatre at Rollins College, 1000 Holt Avenue in Winter Park

• When: Through Feb. 22

• Cost: $20

• Info: rollins.edu/annie

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2026/02/14/potus-annie-russell-review/