Lightning Jar Theatre in association with fortyfivedownstairs presents Selina Fillinger’s POTUS Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive in an Australian premiere season from 13 February 2025.
When a White House PR nightmare spins into a full blown shitshow, seven brilliant and beleaguered women must risk life, liberty, and sanity to keep the commander-in-chief out of trouble.
Returning to fortyfivedownstairs for the first time since their enormously successful production of Mr Burns: a post electric play (Green Room Award Winner for Best Independent Production) in 2019, Lightning Jar is excited to team with director Marni Mount (whose acclaimed production of Trophy Boys has been one of the great success stories of 2023-2024).
Mount has assembled a stellar cast for Fillinger’s whip smart, all female farce including Lucy Ansell, Carolyn Bock, Candy Bowers, Jen Bush, Liliana Dalton, Hannah Greenwood, Tilly Legge, and AYA.
“A lot has changed since Mr. Burns,” says Lightning Jar. “We wanted our next show to be relevant, funny and intelligent. We’ve always been very discerning with our play selection and with POTUS we knew we’d finally found our next show.”
“An all-female farce set in the world of US politics felt so right for us! POTUS is dedicated to all the women who have been relegated to secondary status behind a buffoon of a man.”
“Despite the divisiveness of US politics, we felt the experiences represented in this play are universal; it doesn’t matter what administration is in charge, idiocy is bipartisan. We read POTUS for the first time with gasps of surprise, bursts of laughter and sighs of sympathy. We can’t wait to have our audiences do the same!”
Selina Fillinger is an internationally produced writer and performer. Her feminist farce, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, garnered three Tony nominations and made Fillinger, at 28, one of the youngest female playwrights ever produced on Broadway.
Other plays include Baby, Under the Sill, The Collapse, Something Clean, Faceless, and The Armor Plays: Cinched/ Strapped. Her work has been developed at Roundabout Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre, Old Globe Theatre, and Alley Theatre, among others. Fillinger is currently commissioned at Roundabout and South Coast Repertory.
She has developed TV with AMC, Freeform, Hunting Lane, and Hulu, and a feature with Chernin/Netflix. She wrote for the third season of Apple TV’s The Morning Show. Fillinger was named to the 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Hollywood/Entertainment.
“Located somewhere on the satirical dial between 9 to 5 and Veep” – The Washington Post
Director: Marni Mount | Featuring: Lucy Ansell, Carolyn Bock, Candy Bowers, Jen Bush, Liliana Dalton, Hannah Greenwood, Tilly Legge, AYA | Set and Costume Designer: Sophie Woodward | Lighting Designer: Richard Vabre | Sound Designer and Composer: Rachel Lewindon | Stage Manager: Jessica Smart | Set and Stage Management intern: Bailey Tynan
POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying To Keep Him Alive
fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Season: 15 February – 2 March 2025 (preview: 13 & 14 February)
Information and Bookings: www.fortyfivedownstairs.com
Image: The Cast of POTUS – photo by Cameron Grant