Anthony Kehs as Wayne, Raven Whitefawn as Megan and Isaiah Brown as Oliver are members of the Puff House at a Certain School of Magic and Magic.
Wilkes University Photo
‘Puffs’ opens April 18 at Wilkes University
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Raven Whitefawn as Megan, Anthony Kehs as Wayne and Isaiah Brown as Oliver are three of the main characters in ‘Puff,’ a send-up of the Harry Potter stories to be presented at Wilkes University April 18-21.
Wilkes University Photo
The storyline of ‘Puffs’ is told not from the standpoint of students who are often under-estimated at their School of Magic and Magic.
Wilkes University Photo
A bird delivers a message to an orphan who’s being raised by his uncle in New Mexico.
“What kind of bird?” the uncle asks.
“An owl, I think,” responds the boy, whose name is Wayne.
“I’ll drive you to the airport,” the uncle says, quickly explaining to the boy that his parents were wizards.
Wayne will soon be welcomed to a special academy in England — and you will soon be welcome to join the audience for “Puffs,” a play by Matt Cox, to be presented April 18-21 in the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts at Wilkes University.
The alternate title of the play is “Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic,” and if you’re read stories or seen movies about the kid with the big round glasses and the jagged scar on his forehead, you might know what to expect. Sort of.
This is a boarding school where staircases move and where an enchanted hat sorts new students into four houses — the Braves, the Smarts, the Snakes and the Puffs.
While J.K. Rowling’s best-selling books were told from the standpoint of students in the brave-hearted House of Gryffindor, this play is presented from the standpoint of the young people at the bottom of the pecking order.
The Puffs are the kids who might get drunk on butterbeer. Whose rallying cry in a school with four divisions is “third or nothing.” Whose student leader, the athletic Cedric, warns they could become targets, perhaps of a “wedgio” curse.
“They’re losers,” several cast members explained before a recent rehearsal.
But not everyone agreed with that assessment. Two young women in the cast said that, going back to their earliest encounters with Harry Potter stories, they identified with the Hufflepuffs.
“I always related to them,” said Cally Williams, who portrays a Puff named Leanne. “They’re really friendly and loyal.”
“They’re the nice ones,” said another Puff fan, Carley Cain, who portrays several characters including Blondo Malfoy, who would be one of the elitist and far-from-welcoming Snakes.
Among the new friends Wayne meets at school are his fellow Puffs Oliver and Megan.
Oliver is a math prodigy, used to excelling at academics, said Isaiah Brown, who has that role. Oliver naturally is dismayed because magic doesn’t come to him as easily.
Raven Whitefawn, who plays Megan, said her character is very relatable to anyone who has gone through their teen years because “she wants to be everything she’s not.” Megan resents being placed with the Puffs, and feels her true place would be with the Snakes. Even if they are affiliated with the biggest bad guy of all.
Guest director Paul Nelson, a professional actor from Michigan, said the cast has been working hard, and suggested audiences should “leave their troubles behind and enjoy a fantasy trip through the magical world of laughter.”
Show times are 8 p.m. April 18, 19 and 20 and 2 p.m. April 20 and April 21 at the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center. Tickets are available at wilkes.edu or at the box office.