POTUS Comes to Delaware; Women Rule the Show

By Mike Logothetis
Theater reviewer Mike Logothetis grew up in North Wilmington, performing in school and local theater productions. He lives in Newark, but you can find him wherever the arts are good.

POTUS at City Theater Company.
Photo by Moonloop Photography.

Raise “Old Glory” and hang the bunting because City TheaterCompany (CTC) is welcoming POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive to its riverfront stage. The Tony-nominated comedy is an all-female satire of the inner workings of the Executive Branch (on a very bad day). Playwright Selina Fillinger has artfully/crassly tapped into the modern world of American politics with a biting look behind the scenes at the White House.

Cast members Mary Carpenter (Harriet), Jordan Fidalgo (Chris), Karen Getz (Bernadette), Kelsey Hébert (Stephanie), Jessica Jordan (Jean), Heron Kennedy (Dusty), and LaNeshe Miller White (Margaret/FLOTUS) purred like a finely-tuned engine. They consistently hit the gas and sped things up without losing control.

The New York Times originally called the 2022 show “Gleefully filthy,” which is an apt description. The play is rated R for adult content, situations, and (mostly) language. There is a lot of, let’s say, “colorful vernacular” peppered throughout the action. But, vulgarity aside, the dialog is the best part. The repartee is clever and biting and delivered expertly by the cast. Most importantly, it’s funny…very funny.

Lines like, “I need all of them first!” (Harriet), “No howling at the White House!” (Jean), and “We all serve in different ways” (Dusty) had the audience in stitches. The constant attacks on Jean’s wardrobe delivered laughs over and over – “…Jackie O meets Carl Sagan” (Bernadette).

The pacing of the show is quick. The snappy dialog and interwoven plot points come fast. Kudos to Director Kristin Finger for keeping everything on track; although parts of the second act seemed a tad chaotic. But, then again, that’s the nature of the play. Strap in and enjoy the ride!

I don’t want to discount the heaps of physical comedy on display. Whether it was Dusty’s blue-lipped cheerleading routine, Chris’s endless lactation issues, or Stephanie’s “Power Stance,” these women kept bringing the laughs.

There was a real sense of sisterhood, even though internal rivalries and external issues kept impeding their collective goal of “progress for women.” They were in the same mess together and needed their collective powers to right the ship. Can they pull it off? Do your duty as an American: Buy a ticket and find out!

There are some short musical interludes between scenes and featured songs by local artists Grace Vonderkuhn, Hot Breakfast, and Nitro Nitra, which were great to hear. In fact, the POTUS program has QR links to the soundtrack (Spotify and Apple Music).

POTUS will run through March 7. Curtain is at 8:00pm for all performances except for the Sunday (March 1) matinee, which starts at 2:00pm. The run time is approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes with a 15-minute intermission. City Theater Company’s home is at The Delaware Contemporary – located at 200 South Madison, Wilmington, Delaware 19801. 

General admission tickets ($45) can be purchased at the box office or online at city-theater.org. Special ticket pricing is available for military personnel ($35), seniors ($35), and students ($25). All shows feature free admission to the museum galleries, and a cash bar is available. The Delaware Contemporary offers free parking and is a short walk from the Joseph R. Biden Amtrak train station. Please call the box office at 302.220.8285 or email info@city-theater.org for details.

Founded in 1993, City Theater Company performs contemporary comedies, new works, and classic musicals to critical acclaim inside The Delaware Contemporary. Both institutions are invested in promoting the work of local and emerging artists, advancing opportunity and growth by and for the community, and welcoming all those looking to experience art.

– “FML” (Harriet)

Last Call for FREE Art Program Registrations — The Sold Firm and Route 9 Library & Innovation Center

The content of this post comes from information provided by The Sold Firm art gallery in Wilmington...

Now, in its fifth year, The Art Space at the Route 9 Library and Innovation Center is a program dedicated to offering the fundamentals of visual arts to creative middle and high school students. 

This FREE program is application based and is a structured creative training course offering four weeks of drawing classes, four weeks of painting classes, and four weeks of digital art classes. 

Participating teens will be rewarded in cash at the end of the 12-week course for the time spent in The Art Space in recognition of their hard work and dedication.

Deadline for applications is tomorrow 2/20/26 for ages 13-18.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO!

COMPLETE THE ONLINE APPLICATION HERE!

The REP's Newest Production Asks Us, "What IS Art"?

By Mike Logothetis
Theater reviewer Mike Logothetis grew up in North Wilmington, performing in school and local theater productions. He lives in Newark, but you can find him wherever the arts are good.

The University of Delaware Resident Ensemble Players (REP) proudly presents the Tony- and Molière-winning dark comedy ART at the Roselle Center for the Arts in Newark. The 1994 play was written by Yasmina Reza and translated from the original French by Christopher Hampton. ART offers a witty and incisive look at friendship, honesty, significance, and the surprising power of a single piece of art.

The story focuses on three friends who find themselves at odds after one (Serge) purchases an expensive, all-white painting. Throughout the show, the three characters argue fiercely — and amusingly — over their visceral responses to the painting and the others’ reactions to it.

Though it makes several appearances during the play, the white painting is, in effect, a MacGuffin — i.e. a catalyst for the action. “The Antrios,” as it is often called, amplifies hidden tensions within this longstanding three-way friendship.

But the audience’s first impression is the commanding set by Christopher and Justin Swader. The unadorned walls (and our view of them) are angular and imposing…almost monolithic. The industrial lighting by Dawn Chiang adds to the feeling that these men are small in comparison to the disarray they’ve conjured between themselves.

These are not obscure personas, but fairly regular folks trying to make heads or tails of the everchanging world. Serge is an aesthete whose life has been mostly comfortable. Marc is a realist with a stern outer layer he uses for protection. Yvan is an easy-going person on the outside with insecurities swirling below the surface. 

The “deconstruction” of the central piece of artwork devolves to comic effect as the trio grapples with the larger question of how to maintain personal relationships through a prolonged three-pronged argument. When Yvan tries to play peacemaker, he is derided by the others as a “coward” and an “amoeba,” and even suffers a minor injury when he tries to defuse a brief scuffle.

ART stars REP stalwarts Hassan El-Amin as Marc, Lee E. Ernst as Yvan, and Stephen Pelinski as Serge. All three actors imbue their characters with staunch individuality and some compassion. They are a talented trio whose banter is natural and pointed, helping the audience believe their characters are really friends – but also scathing critics.

The intertwining theme of value versus values runs deep because true friendship is not superficial. These characters care about each other, but life has intervened, which often makes the simple more complex. Director Michael Gotch allows his actors to interact and soliloquize (under spotlight) easily and comfortably. Gotch’s pacing keeps us fixated by the changes these friends are going through. There was excellent switching between edgy discourses, comic dialog, and character asides.

“This is a masterpiece of a play, really — one of those rare ones where everything the author’s given you works,” says Gotch. “It’s in some ways a perfect play: it’s funny, it’s insightful and it manages to entertain on so many levels. In a world where it seems everything around us is a Rorschach test and wildly different opinions clash on social media 24/7, this play isn’t just entertaining, it’s also timely. But mostly it’s an incredibly fun, perfectly compact, and surprisingly sharp ride to enjoy.”

The funniest scene is when Yvan delivers his pre-wedding monologue, listing all that is going wrong regarding printed invitations and family dynamics. Ernst drew us into his character’s angst while humoring us with mundane decisions which are slowing driving Yvan mad.

Another funny micro-scene was an unspoken one where the three protagonists munch on olives after arguing well past the dinner hour. The pinging of the pits into a metal bowl was effectively comical, realistic, and surreal.

After the show, it is inevitable to ponder status and potential changes within one’s own friendship groups. A significant question being: Are interpersonal conflicts organic or are they initiated?

This production of ART runs now through March 1. Tickets range from $20-39 (+fees) with discounts available for students, seniors, plus University of Delaware faculty and staff. 

Tickets can be purchased online at www.rep.udel.edu; by contacting the REP box office at 302.831.2204; or visiting in person at 110 Orchard Road Tuesdays through Fridays from 12:00pm to 5:00pm. The one act show runs approximately 90 minutes.

The Thompson Theatre at the Roselle Center for the Arts is located on the University of Delaware’s Newark campus and is ADA-compliant. It is equipped with a hearing loop system, which works with hearing aid t-coils, cochlear implants, and in-house hearing devices. Wheelchair and other seating requests can be made prior to the performance by calling (302)831-2204 or emailing cfa-boxoffice@udel.edu. 

“You should never leave your friends unchaperoned.” – Marc