By Rebecca Spear
The delightful Puffs is currently playing at New World Stages in New York, and you don’t want to miss this show. You don’t have to be a hard-core Potter enthusiast to enjoy Puffs, meaning Hufflepuff House in the Harry Potter series. It explores what life would be like at a certain magical school when you aren’t a main character or even a character of note. Matt Cox’s Potter Parody debuted in 2015 and was only meant to last five performances but ended running for nine months due to its popularity. The show was then taken to the University of Florida School of Theater where it was reworked before being brought back to New York and eventually landing at its current off-Broadway location. According to Cox, it’s evolved through the years becoming more quirky, funny, and heartfelt.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I entered the New World Stages building. My thought was this could easily be a hilarious parody or a disastrous farcical attempt. Upon entering the small theater, the first thing I noticed was the happy yellow colors of the Puff House draping around the room, drastically breaking up the dark wizardly tones and setting the mood for the show. Harry Waller steps onstage playing the part of the Narrator, who gives tongue-in-cheek commentary on the magic school’s goings on and steps you through each of the “seven increasingly eventful years.” Waller’s expressions, body language, timely delivery, and interaction with the cast and audience are spot on and highly add to the show’s overall humor. The entire cast works together to create a fast-paced, amusing romp through the books in just an hour and 45-minutes.
We follow Wayne, played phenomenally by Zac Moon, who is similar to and yet much different than the boy-who-lived. Wayne is left in the care of his hillbilly American uncle when his parents die and only finds out he’s a wizard when an invitation arrives. However, it becomes very apparent from the get-go that Wayne isn’t destined for greatness.
He’s sorted into the Puffs, which according to everyone else at the school is the place for the rejects who aren’t smart, brave, or likely to throw wine in your face. Wayne makes friends with fellow Puffs Oliver (Reginald Keith Jackson), a muggle-born math enthusiast who can’t get over the fact that arithmetic isn’t taught at the magical school, and Megan Jones (Sonia Mena), whose long family history of being sorted into the Puffs is an embarrassment. Moon, Jackson, and Mena interact wonderfully with each other, adding to the humor of the show and giving life to the mostly unknown characters of the magic school. Alex Haynes, who plays a variety of characters including the most recognizable Puff, Cedric Diggory, will draw you in with laughter as well as serious dialogue. He quickly switches from a somewhat serious role to an absolutely comical figure within a short amount of time, which shows just how good of an actor he is.
Harry (Madeline Bundy) and his friends make brief appearances to give context for the books’ plots but mostly wander off leaving you to see how their actions cause serious trouble for the Puffs and other students. Bundy plays various roles throughout the play but her brief appearances as Potter are downright hilarious. Her inflections and movements give Harry an airy and oblivious nature that makes you long for her to return to the stage. The props are very plain and simple, which adds to the mirth and light-heartedness of the scenes. Instead of being played by actors, Ron and Hermione’s brief appearances are in the form of mops, which the actors talk to and toss around none too gently.
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The evening shows are meant for audiences 13-years-old and up. There is one part in the middle of the show that seemed potentially improv and didn’t really make a lot of sense with the rest of the show. Aside from the fact that the leads broke out of character and started laughing onstage, this scene wasn’t very amusing and definitely detracted from the story. It also became rather sexual and crude compared to the rest of the play. For those of you who are wanting to take young children, you’ll want to go on Saturday or Sunday afternoons when the story is slightly changed to be more family friendly.
Whether you’re a die hard Potter fan or have very little experience with the books or movies, Puffs is an entertaining show. You’ll be laughing, find yourself relating to these sweet-tempered yet outcast students, and might even feel sorrow as the story progresses.
New World Stages presents Puffs by Matt Cox.
New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street New York, NY 10019
Until March 3, 2019, Mon – Fri 8:00 PM; Sat 2:00 PM, 8:00 PM; Sun 2:00 PM, 7:30 PM
Tickets: $52 – $87
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