ROTUS: Receptionist of the United States Brings Political Satire to the Park Theatre

Following a highly successful run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025, ROTUS: Receptionist of the United States makes its London debut at the Park Theatre from 20 January to 7 February 2026. Written and performed by Leigh Douglas the solo show is a political satire set inside a fictionalised MAGA-era White House. In this Q&A Douglas discusses revisiting the show in a shifting political landscape and expanding its scope for a mainstage production.

For anyone new to it, how would you describe ROTUS: Receptionist of the United States?

ROTUS is a political thriller for girls. It’s a high energy, darkly comic, riotous (if a little disturbing) expedition through the MAGA White House of President Drumpf led by West Wing Receptionist, Chastity Quirke. Depending on who you ask, Chastity is a bigot, a foot soldier of fascism, a good old fashioned American christian girl next door, or a Make America Hot Again conservative mean girl. The show draws on elements of cabaret, drag and even a moment of cheerleading as Chastity uses her feminine wiles both for good and for evil in her campaign for political power.

The show is rooted in real figures and real events. As you revisit it for this run, which parts of Chastity’s world now feel even closer to reality or even stranger?

When I first wrote the show in January of 2024, the world had barely become familiar with the image of Karoline Leavitt behind the podium in the White House Press Briefing Room. We couldn’t yet have imagined half the things she would be asked to defend in that position. Without an intensive deep dive into her social media, it might also have been difficult to foresee quite the manner in which she would perform her duties. Even while being horrified by much of what leaves her mouth, you can’t deny her fervor is compelling. In the year since Donald Trump returned to the White Hosue, images of American conservative women have become even more ubiquitous, even more alluring and even more aspirational in both politics and pop culture. A Mormon wife of Momtok fame is now set to make her Broadway debut as the scantily clad murderer Roxie Hart in Chicago. Conservative American women appear set to take over the world and more importantly the cultural zeitgeist. 

Given the current political climate, is it becoming easier or harder to satirise American politics? 

Whether it is becoming harder or easier, it has certainly become more vital. I believe artists have a duty to history. This moment demands satire as a public service. All one has to do is look at how scared Putin is of Pussy Riot to see how powerful art in all forms is in emboldening resistance. I studied theatre at the University of York and one of my tutors, Lisa Peschel, researches art in times of crisis. Learning about her work while I was a student was very impactful for me and it’s a tradition I try to carry on in my own practice now. I will say however, what’s happening in the United States is becoming stranger by the day and it makes the line between satire and reality more and more blurred.

Have any recent political developments from Trump world or beyond influenced tweaks, additions or shifts in how you play Chastity for the Park Theatre audience?

There are certainly some women in the Trump orbit who I keep an eye on as foils for Chastity. I’ve already mentioned Karoline Leavitt who absolutely fascinates and disturbs me in equal measure with each new word that comes out of her mouth. Kristi Noem and Tulsi Gabbard can also make for interesting case studies. The saga of Marjorie Taylor Green as it has unfolded this year has also been compelling and illustrative I think of what happens to women on the other side of their spell in Trump’s favour. The women of the second Trump administration are more brazen than they were in his first term. They are not the demure Republican women of yesteryear. These women are unashamedly brash and unafraid to say the quiet part out loud. Chastity therefore might be a little less girl next door and a little more razor tongued this time.

What do you hope Park Theatre audiences will feel or question as they walk out of the theatre?

I hope audiences leave the show feeling invigorated, energised and empowered to engage in politics. The show is intended as a call to arms. Too many people still describe themselves as being apolitical or not interested in politics until policies touch them personally. And yet so much of the media we consume is pushing a political agenda of some kind. Trad wives on social media, Mormon reality TV stars and manosphere podcasters are all pushing a conservative political agenda, whether they realise it or not, by making conservative lifestyles appear aspirational to their audiences. I would love ROTUS to make politics feel more accessible, especially for women. If people left the show ready to join the global fight against fascism, vote in the next election or anything in between, I’ll feel I’ve done my job.

After debuting ROTUS at the Edinburgh Fringe, what are you hoping to discover, deepen or challenge in this next chapter of the show’s life?

The Edinburgh fringe festival is its own beast. It is a world unto itself both for performers and for audiences. At the fringe, ROTUS might be one of six shows an audience member sees in a day. Often audiences are in a state of cultural overload. That’s a very different experience than going along to the theatre after work in the midst of a busy week. As a performer, Edinburgh is also a test of endurance and totally all-consuming. That’s a very different experience than getting to go home to my girlfriend and my cats every night. The fringe environment is wonderfully frenetic. But I’m excited at the prospect of the show having some space to breathe. We have the opportunity to enhance the design aspects of the show at the Park being in a purpose built theatre and present a more fully realised version of the show visually. Six months on from the summer, there has been a tonal shift in the tenor of the Trump administration and the tone of the show will be responsive to that. Things have gotten a little darker since the summer. There is also one character, whose story I’m excited to enrich in the new script. It’s important to me that all the female characters, not just Chastity, have a meaningful arc that does justice to the feminine experiences they represent. I have a little more time to do that this run. 

ROTUS: Receptionist of the United States is at Park Theatre from 20^th January – 7^th February 2026. Tickets available HERE.