Monday, August 26, 2024
City Theatre Kicks Off its 2024/2024 Season with a Bi-Partisan Comedy
onstagepittsburgh.com: City Theatre has announced the first show of the 2024/2025 season, a rollicking comedy—and a smash hit when performed on Broadway—just in time for the election season. City Theatre’s 50th season will launch with POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive by Selina Filinger, Directed by Meredith McDonough
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4 comments:
As a person who is both good friends with people at City theater and who just worked on a project in there space I am very familiar with the fact the POTUS is coming to Pittsburgh later this fall. I personally love watching shows that deal with both a contemporary and political topic. In high school I had the chance to watch a recording of What the constitution means to me and enjoyed watching something political through what was an intentionally cometic view. I hope POTUS is similar in its energy. With elections right around the corner it is good to have something on stage that highlights our government and its flaws. I do not know if City Theater chose this play for its season due to the timing of the election but I hope that POTUS with its ties to what is currently happening in our current political climate will be a smash hit.
I had never heard of POTUS before reading this article, and afterwards I searched up the synopsis. I love comedic shows that take situations to the extreme to make them funny. In doing this, I find that they are able to accentuate the irony and sometimes preposterous nature of what we know of as everyday life; by making everything “bigger,” we can often more easily see the ridiculousness that is otherwise hidden. In this way, POTUS reminds me of The Play That Goes Wrong. Both take specific situations to the extreme, and in doing so point out truths about life that aren’t always obvious. And both manage to do it in such a way that also makes us laugh, and what’s better than that? I think this is a great pick for the start of City Theatre’s season, especially in an election year when many of these themes are being examined and experienced daily. And, of course, we all need to laugh every once in a while!
POTUS could not be more relevant to today’s political and social climate. Not only was City Theatre looking to start their season off with a comedy bang, they knew exactly how to draw in audiences from all over. As I said in an earlier comment, POTUS has been on my list to see for years, so I’m so excited that it’s finally coming to Pittsburgh. Not only that but that there are 2 CMU faculty who are part of this production is really quite cool. I’ll be excited to see the set design that Chelsea did, as I saw something she did last year for Quantum theatre and it was well thought out and beautiful. Kaja Dunn is also part of this production team and is helping with the intimacy coordination, which is great to see that this production also realized an intimacy coordinator would be valuable and needed for this production. I’m really excited to see POTUS, if I get the chance with my production schedule.
This show is one that I have loved from the moment the lights came up. It is incredibly witty, comedic, and enjoyable to watch while also being nuanced enough to be realistic and timely. I think it’s the perfect show for the present moment when so much is happening in the political world and it’s so easy to feel like it’s the end of the world. This show lifts our spirits and makes people forget about the problems of the world for a short period of time while also serving as a reminder of how important it is to be politically aware, especially with the upcoming election. I love City Theatre and have seen a good number of shows there so I am excited to see or hear about how this one goes. If I know anything about City Theatre, I’m sure it will be a very well done production that makes everybody fall in love with the show.
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