On Friday, Oct. 4, “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive,” written by Selina Fillinger, premiered at Riverside Theater in downtown Iowa City.

As the audience sank into their seats, Harriet and Jean announce breaking news: The president called his wife a poorly timed four-letter word, and the public has caught wind of it.

Immediately, the audience is immersed in the environment — stakes are high, and curiosity is spiked.

The world is represented by seven intense women who constantly fight with each other, often with career advancement or preservation in the back of their minds.

Harriet is the president’s right-hand man and constantly finds herself cleaning up after his messes. Jean works in marketing and is faced with how to preserve the president’s credentials after his verbal slip-up.

First Lady Margaret often finds herself in her husband’s shadow. As a highly educated and intelligent woman, she often questions why she holds the position of the cheating president’s wife.

Chris is a West Wing reporter looking to salvage her career with a juicy story, hoping to capture details on the president’s mistake.

Stephanie, a timid intern, battles her chronic condition as a people pleaser. She believes her job is threatened when a new character, Dusty, is introduced. Dusty is a flighty, young girl who sticks out like a sore thumb in this group of authoritative women.

This diverse range of personalities promotes conflict throughout the play. Each woman has her self-indulgent desires, creating roadblocks for the other characters. Hence, this play is a very collaborative piece; the plot and characters cannot move forward without the continuous interactions between the women.

Moreover, the characters consistently question, “Why isn’t she president?” and “Aren’t you president?” throughout the duration of the play. For the first lady and the president’s right-hand man, under-qualification isn’t the problem. Rather, they hold the belief that their gender prohibits them from successfully holding a national position of power.

It evokes thematic questions regarding how gender roles influence power dynamics.

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Throughout the play’s duration, POTUS is never introduced; he’s only referred to by the women. When trying to deal with the evolving situations, the characters fight with each other instead of with the president, alluding to how society has conditioned women: They are often more likely to fight with each other than a man who holds power.

Though POTUS is never actually in the play, the plot revolves around his actions and how the women must respond to them. This raises the question of whether women feel like their jobs are to regulate men’s actions and then stand behind them, suggesting how power dynamics and gender roles are often intertwined.

Additionally, while the characters are enticing, the plot oftentimes felt lost in the first half of the play amid all the character relationships.

Following intermission, there was a large shift in pacing, consisting of an array of chaotic events: the introduction of Bernadette, the president’s sister who was recently released from prison, and the potential assassination of POTUS. The second half of the play was so plot-heavy that there almost wasn’t a moment to breathe.

Nevertheless, the sets used at Riverside were very versatile throughout the play. Between scenes, columns with walls attached were moved toward the center stage and used to divide the stage into different rooms. These fixtures also represented real columns or were placed near the wings to represent walls.

During the transitions between scenes, as the actors moved the sets and props to their assigned places, pop music echoed through the theater, with lyrics focused on female empowerment. While the music matched the themes of the play, it almost felt a little too on the nose. The writing itself was already conveying these themes through the characters and plot.

While Riverside Theater’s production of “POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” may have been a bit too on the money for some, it evoked prevalent questions regarding gender and power dynamics during this election season.