Welcome To Hogwarts, a magic school with four unique houses: Gryffindors, Slytherins, Ravenclaws, and… those other guys.
The Hufflepuffs.
Most of the time we focus on the Gryffindors: brave, charismatic, and courageous, but unfortunately they’re busy today so in this play we’ll be following the other house. Welcome to Puffs.
Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic, was performed by our own Skyline Theater group in the Skyline auditorium on April 22nd-24th. Over three shows, they embodied the world of Harry Potter and brought to light the Hufflepuff (or Puff) house, who were barely included in the Harry Potter franchise.
The Puffs are known for their loyalty, justice, patience, and love for hard work. Main characters include Wayne Hopkins (senior Ronan Gilmore), Oliver Rivers (sophomore Benji Davidoff), and Megan Jones ( freshman Mia Vaconsin). The play follows their seven years at a school of magic, where they navigate the adventure of teenage angst, magical creatures, and other potential crises.
Audience members entered the auditorium expecting a light-hearted, goofy, and magical experience. They left with that and more. Posters for this play had a caution: ”Some content not suitable for young children.” The content in question was a few curse words, suggestive scenes including makeouts, and plenty of violence.
While this play was paying tribute to an all-time classic, it also added its own personal charm.
“I just think that it has the teenage humor and it’s not like ‘we’re the adults and we hate teenagers,’” said Sophomore Agni Gupta, who worked on Stage Crew. “It doesn’t have that anti-teenage humor. It’s more like ‘we’re children and apparently… the only ones who can do anything.”
This play was organized and prac
ticed over four months by the cast, crew, and Theater Director Anne-Marie Roberts and Director Brodie H. Brockie.
The original production of Puffs was written by Matt Cox and performed in New York City in 2015. The Skyline adaptation was packed with fun jokes that had the audience rolling in their seats, such as the brooms used to embody Harry Potter’s friends, or the athletic coach Zach Smith’s improvised speech given to Hogwarts students about the importance of sports.
“The humor is a mix between making fun of Harry Potter and your typical high school jokes,” said Gupta. “Notably, the moment when Headmaster Albus Percival Wolfrick Brian Dumbldore yells calmly, ‘Harry! Did you put your name in that cup over there?’’” and when Oliver told his son that he doesn’t need to know math to go to wizard school.
All in all, Puffs was an amazing performance by our Skyline Theater. We can’t wait to see what they do next.
