Diane and I donned our N95 masks and joined an audience of about 200 people–mostly youngsters and their parents–at the Smith Theater in downtown Buffalo. Everyone was masked and had to prove they were vaccinated.
Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic is a 2015 original Off-Broadway play by New York-based playwright Matt Cox. The play is a comedic retelling of the Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling, but from the perspective of the “Puffs”. If you’re into parodies, Puffs is a lot of fun!
The story of Harry Potter seen from the point of view of the lower status and less regarded group of fledgling wizards shows the class structure in this School of Magic and Magic. My favorite character is the brooding and difficult Megan (played by Kris Bartolomeo) who initially resists being a Puff and who has a “complicated” relationship with her mother who’s involved with the Dark Lord.
Both Potterheads and muggles enjoyed this performance by a local theater company. What some of the young actors in the large ensemble cast lacked in experience they more than made up for it in enthusiasm! If Puffs shows up in your neighborhood, you might consider this entertaining experience of laughter and magic. Are you a Harry Potter fan? GRADE: B
P. S. Puffs is not authorized, sanctioned, licensed, or endorsed by J.K Rowling, Warner Bros., or any person or company associated with the Harry Potter books, films or plays.
The first HARRY POTTER book struck me as a pretty obvious “steal” from Howard Pyle’s MEN OF IRON and I’ve never been much interested in the subsequent efforts.
Dan, J. K. Rowling, richer than the Queen of England now, somehow hit the publishing Jackpot with her Harry Potter books. The mania about Harry Potter reminded me of the mania about The Beatles. And, the movies helped sell the books.
Ridiculous.
I got caught up in the initial HP mania but quickly got bored with it and bailed somewhere in the second book. It does seem to have become a cash cow that will go on forever.
Michael, several of th kids who showed up for PUFFS were dressed in the wizard student costumes. Yes, Harry Potter’s appeal has not diminished…and perhaps it never will.
This seems very interesting, George. Don’t think I’ll ever be able to watch it but if somebody publishes it in a book-form, perhaps I’ll get to read it. I was a HP fan till that awful Deadly Hole seventh book. The Hufflepuffs were treated so abysmally.
Neeru, seeing the Harry Potter saga through the eyes of the Hufflepuffs delighted me! It’s a clever idea and this ensemble company of young people pulled it off pretty well. Perhaps someone will turn PUFFS into a TV show or movie and you’ll get to enjoy it.
Although she has proved herself unworthy of adulation, Rowling made a generation of readers with those books. I only read the first but admired such creativity in that one.
Patti, as Neeru points out, the popularity of Harry Potter persists. Beth is a huge Harry Potter fan, too!
Sounds like fun. We’ve read all the books and seen the movies, plus Jackie went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando with Beth and Maggie…twice!
Jeff, Diane and I enjoyed PUFFS. Like you, we’ve read all the books and seen all the movies. But, we have no plans on visiting THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER.
Me either!
Interesting. I never did get around to reading MEN OF IRON. But I read a lot of Roald Dahl’s children’s books and, by the time I was eight, had started in on his adult short fiction, and the first Potter volume struck almost immediately as a poor imitation of Dahl. I never finished the first and never picked up another.
That, as Patti notes, Rowling has proven herself at least as disagreeable a personality as Dahl hasn’t made me want to read her work more, though I did mildly enjoy the tv series based on her adult-audience detective novels.
Struck me, I should’ve written. Hey, looks like we’re back to normal, including my sloppy typing.
A parody of the Potter series might entertain me, though a fair amount of it will get by me, I’m sure, as I’m unfamiliar with the series as a whole. The closest I’ve come is Pitch Meeting parodies of the films.
Todd, PUFFS stands on its own with wit and humor. Knowing the Harry Potter Saga reveals more humor.
If it comes to San Diego I’ll be there
Maggie, you and Beth are the Target Audience for PUFFS!