Comedy
August 22-September 7, 2025
The State Theater
1 HR 40 MINS
PG-13
When the President unwittingly spins a PR nightmare into a global crisis, the seven brilliant and beleaguered women he relies upon most risk life, liberty, and the pursuit of sanity to keep the commander-in-chief out of trouble. (Any resemblance to past White House shenanigans is purely coincidental.) In a searingly funny Broadway hit, POTUS follows how seven women of dramatically different backgrounds minimize the damage done by male arrogance and political posturing, in an endearing homage to the women who keep things running behind the scenes.
“The likelihood that you will laugh until your face hurts is one of near certainty.”— Entertainment Weekly
“POTUS” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
Emily A. Rollie is an Associate Professor of Theatre Studies, Performance, & Education at Central Washington University. Her work spans theatre practice and scholarship, finding ways for each area to fuel the other. Dr. Rollie completed her PhD in Theatre from the University of Missouri and received her Master’s degree in Theatre Production at CWU, where she directed The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, a touring children’s production, for her MA thesis project.
Dr. Rollie’s primary research areas include intimacy choreography and consent-based practices, directing practice and theory, and feminist and queer theatre. Her article on directing feminist solo women performers appeared in the edited volume About Directing (edited by Anna Migliarsi). She is currently working on an edited collection in milestones in staging modern and contemporary genders. She also has several forthcoming articles, including “Relaxed Readiness, Increased Awareness, and Intimacy Protocols: Increasing Actors’ Agency and Authenticity in Stanislavsky’s System” as part of an edited collection on Stanislavksi and Intimacy, and an essay on the intersection between consent-based practices and antiracist theatre practices, co-written with Dr. Natashia Lindsey.
As a director, Dr. Rollie has directed in venues around the country and spent five years as the artistic director of Independent Actors Theatre (IAT), a “purposefully nomadic” theatre company, which became known for its annual short Women’s Play Festival (the plays are short, not the women!). She also was the associate director of the Troubling Violence Performance Project (TVPP), a group dedicated to opening lines of communication about issues of relationship violence through the performance of personal narratives, for four years, and she began a second branch of TVPP in 2014.
Dr. Rollie also works professionally as an intimacy choreographer and is an associate faculty member with Theatrical Intimacy Education (TIE) as well as a founding member of PNW Theatrical Intimacy Collective, a group of intimacy professionals in the region. Emily has choreographed intimacy on productions such as Spring Awakening, Stupid F**king Bird, Nora: A Doll’s House, Fefu and her Friends, and more.
An active member of multiple professional organizations, Dr. Rollie has served as the focus group representative for the Directing Program, part of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), as well as an ATHE Member-at-Large. She also has been a member of the Executive Board of the Canadian Association for Theatre Research (CATR) and currently coordinates the CATR Grants and Scholarships Committee. She regularly attends and has held positions for the Mid-America Theatre Conference. She is also an associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and serves as an co-editor for the SDC Journal Peer Reviewed Section.
Jeannie Beirne is the Resident Scenic Designer for Harlequin Productions. She has also enjoyed working with The Olympia Family Theatre, Saint Martin’s University, and South Puget Sound Community College. In Missouri, she has designed Urinetown and The Music Man with Missouri Western State University, and The Drowsy Chaperone, She Loves Me, and Damn Yankees for Tent Theater. In Arizona, Jeannie designed Mama and Jack Carew and the world premiere of Suocera by Hal Corley at the Theatre Artists Studio and Big Love with Kim Weild at Arizona State University.
Chelsey Sheppard is a Seattle-based actor, stage combatant, and emerging fight and intimacy director. Chelsey is excited to be returning to the Harlequin stage after appearing in Romeo and Juliet as Mercutio. Other recent credits include The Three Musketeers (Icicle Creek Center for the Arts), Men on Boats (inD Theatre), Macbeth (Seattle Shakespeare), and Athena (Strawberry Workshop). Chelsey holds a B.F.A in Theatre Performance from Central Washington University and is an Intermediate Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors.
Based in Seattle, this is Jason’s first show at Harlequin —and he’s thrilled to be here. He’s a costume designer who loves collaboration, believes joy is essential, and aims to make everyone feel seen (and maybe a little fabulous).
Michael has served as Sound Engineer for Cabaret, Falsettos, Hundred Days, Murder for Two, Tenderly, and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. He has run sound in Olympia for over a decade for local groups and organizations. Besides sound, Michael enjoys spreading pun jokes to all who can stand them. I stopped at a little roadside shack that said “Lobster tails $5”. I gave the guy 5 bucks and he said “Once upon a time in a far-off land, there was a lobster…”
Kimberlee is thrilled to be a part of this production and back at Harlequin where she was in The Women in 2019. She was last seen as Titania/Hippolyta with Animal Fire Theatre. Other theatres she has worked with in the Washington area are SPSCC Theatre Collective, Centerstage, Greenstage, Driftwood, OFT, and Seattle Public Theatre. Some favorite roles in other regions are Agnes in Bug with Seenosun Productions, DC, and Lady M. in Macbeth with RTA in NY. Thank you to the entire cast and crew!
Amy is honored to return to her artistic home at Harlequin Productions. Seattle credits include A View from the Bridge and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Seattle Repertory Theatre), How I Learned to Drive (Strawberry Theatre Workshop), and The Cat in the Hat (Seattle Children’s Theatre), as well as performances with Book-It Repertory Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Annex Theatre, and The 14/48 Projects. A proud graduate of the Central Washington University Theatre Program, Amy sends love to her family and to you, the audience, for supporting the arts.
Kathryn is making her Harlequin debut. After graduating with her MFA from Michigan State University, she is back in WA working as an actor, director, teaching artist, and university professor. Highlighted credits include Venus in Fur (MSU), Significant Other (Summer Circle Theatre), Twelfth Night (Changing Scenes Theatre), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Valley Center Stage). Kathryn has focused much of her scholarship toward developing experiences for neurodiverse participants and loves any chance to devise sensory stories. She thanks her family for their love and support of the arts for all. www.kathrynstahl.com
Gabby is thrilled to be making her Harlequin debut! Gabby graduated from Central Washington University in 2021, with her Musical Theatre BFA. A proud Filipino American, she is committed to telling stories that expand beyond stereotype. After growing up in the very lakey, very woody, Lakewood, Washington, she moved midwest and is currently based in Chicago, Illinois (singular GIANT lake, no woods). She thanks her friends and family, for their endless support. For the women in her life and her mom, especially, who have shown her what it means to be a funny, empowered, and resilient woman.
Chelsey Sheppard is a Seattle-based actor, stage combatant, and emerging fight and intimacy director. Chelsey is excited to be returning to the Harlequin stage after appearing in Romeo and Juliet as Mercutio. Other recent credits include The Three Musketeers (Icicle Creek Center for the Arts), Men on Boats (inD Theatre), Macbeth (Seattle Shakespeare), and Athena (Strawberry Workshop). Chelsey holds a B.F.A in Theatre Performance from Central Washington University and is an Intermediate Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors.
Mykahla is excited to be back at Harlequin! She most recently appeared at Harlequin as Benvolio in this season’s Romeo & Juliet. Other recent credits include Haemon in Antigone, and Leigh Fondakowski and others in The Laramie Project. She would like to thank her family and friends for supporting her in all she does.
Edsonya has appeared in dozens of film, television, and theatre productions across the country. She is thrilled to return to the Harlequin stage. She previously appeared at Harlequin as Ann Collier in The 1940s Radio Hour (2018); Calpurnia in To Kill a Mockingbird (2015); and as Zoe Mitchell in The Stardust Christmas Commotion (2014). Favorite roles include Luttiebelle in Purlie Victorious; the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet; and Hecuba in Trojan Women. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Vanderbilt University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Washington School of Law.
