By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
“Puffs’ is a story about an orphan who is adopted by an uncle, and only realizes when he’s 11 that he is a wizard. Then he’s whisked off to a special academy for magic, where he has adventures and makes friends, and becomes a hero.
But it’s not that orphan wizard. The one that has his name in the title of books and movies.
Instead, the “Puffs” narrator (Heath Diehl) tells the story of Wayne, your standard issue 1990s nerd from New Mexico. He dreams of being a hero, though at the School of Magic and Magic, he’s overshadowed by that other, more famous orphan wizard.
The Black Swamp Players are staging Matt Cox’s “Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School Magic” Friday, Nov. 10 and Saturday, Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. continuing Friday, Nov. 17 and Saturday, Nov. 18 at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Nov. 19 at 2p.m. All shows are at the Black Swamp Players Theater at 115 Oak St, Bowling Green. Tickets are $20 at the door and in advance. Click to purchase advance tickets.
“Puffs,” directed by Bridget Drew, offers a parallel experience to what will seem familiar to those who know the books and movies about that other famous wizard.
Wayne (Jeffrey Guion) arrives at school and is “sorted” into one of the academy’s four houses.
There’s one for the Braves, one for the Smarts, and one for Snakes – no subtlety there, and then there’s the Puffs for those who don’t fit into any of those.
The Puffs bring up the rear, always last, though aspiring to be third. They are bullied. Whenever the plot needs someone to be killed, there’s a Puff handy.
Whenever a crisis comes, their reaction is to gather in their room, in the basement, near the kitchen.
Wayne finds himself part of a trio of friends, another boy Oliver (Lee Nutter) who is a math whiz, who finds the magic part of being an actual wizard daunting, and Megan Jones (Hali Malecki), who is shunned because her mother, how in prison, is an accomplice of the Dark Lord. That aside Megan dreams of being reunited with her and fleeing the confines of the school.
She reluctantly befriends Wayne and Oliver as fellow outcasts.
Their leader is Cedric (Trevor Walsh) who tries to rally them, with little success.
They negotiate the world of the school of magic, highlighting along the way the stories’ holes, illogic and random plot turns. It is comic fan fiction, playing on the well-known plots for laughs … mostly.
The famous Harry struts through now and then, to receive plaudits. We are introduced to his friends Hermione and Ron, who is depicted as a mop. Harry played by Nikki Fetters, who like most of the cast, is called on to play multiple roles, sometimes in the same scene. The action is so frenetic, and switches so quickly, that it’s difficult to keep track at times of who’s who.
Nick Yates, Gloria Wang, Steve Bishop, Samantha Heater, and Kylie Schmehl change hats and capes stepping into characters who will be familiar to those acquainted with the famous book series and movies.
Bishop plays the headmaster, and most of the faculty. His headmaster has a warmth, and an air of distraction. He’s blasé about the fate of the other students aside from Harry. Yet his last interaction with Wayne is touching, as the young wizard realizes the meaning of his magical experience.
Yates gets a chance for an extended scene as a bullying sports coach, who launches into double entendre-laden story about a girl’s handling of his wand.
Heater plays Hannah, the epitome of the Puffs who doesn’t even realize when someone is making fun of her. She also plays Xania Jones, Megan’s mother, who present herself as a powerful witch, but actually is a lot more like Hannah.
Wang plays Sally Perks, who wanders around the set without her much-needed eyewear. She also shows up as the randomly introduced Bippy, a house elf.
Schmehl plays a ditsy blond who always seems game to play it safe. She’s a walking one-liner. Yet she shows gumption in the end with the final battle with the forces of the Dark Lord. Walsh, once he’s done with being the Puffs hero, turns his talents to being a goofy Dark Lord.
“Puffs” has a manic, improvisatory feel to it. Diehl as the narrator engages the audience. Clearly the cast plays loose with some of the lines. Viewers are called on to fill in the blanks left because of licensing concerns. That’s all part of the comedy, and the audience is in on the joke.
