Review: PUFFS, OR SEVEN INCREASINGLY EVENTFUL YEARS AT A CERTAIN SCHOOL OF MAGIC AND MAGIC Entertains Potterphiles at Elektra Theater

An eleven-year-old orphaned boy living with his uncle receives a letter telling him he will be a student at a British wizard's school - sound familiar? Think again. This isn't Potter, it's Puffs: Or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic, a 100-minute whirlwind play and fanfic-come-to-life of the Harry Potter books and movies, now extended at the Elektra Theater Off-Broadway.

Puffs tells the story of Wayne, an American-raised mediocre kid who comes to wizarding school in September 1991, the same year as Harry Potter. Despite a similar backstory to that famous bespectacled schoolmate, plain Wayne is sorted in with the similarly-ordinary "Puffs" (Hufflepuff house) as opposed to the other houses: the "Braves," "Smarts," or "Snakes" (Hogwarts' Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin houses, respectively, of course). He and his housemates navigate the complexities of being average (at best), especially when compared to more famous students. To be fair, Hufflepuffs aren't meant to stand a chance in Puffs: though the books describe them as "loyal" and "true," this comedic play has spun these sorta-familiar Potter characters (most notably Hannah Abbott, Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Susan Bones) into geeky, dense, and strange outcasts that are the badger-butt of everyone's jokes, mostly to great effect.

Being an orphaned wizard student in the Class of 1998 is not Wayne's only parallel to the famous Potter, though - he, too, has a duo of sidekicks whose characters are the antithesis of Ron and Hermione: math nerd Oliver from New Jersey and goth-esque Megan, whose mom is jailed in "Wiz Priz." The parallels continue as the plot moves episodically through each year, becoming more obvious and contrived around the time puberty sets in. (As a note: some foul language and increasingly sexual themes make the show a questionable choice for families with really young fans.)

Zac Moon gives a Cory Matthews-like "Boy Meets (Wizarding) World" performance as the happy-go-lucky Wayne, but the most likeable of the trio is easily Langston Belton's Oliver. Puffs is truly an ensemble piece, though, with nearly a dozen actors covering tons of parts - professors, ghosts, and a house elf, to name just a few. Featured as both a charming but clueless Cedric and sleek Voldemort, James Fouhey steals nearly every scene he is in, especially as he charismatically leads his underdog housemates in a chant of "We are not a threat. Please be our friend?" when danger arrives (which is often). The cheeky narrator, played by A. J. Ditty, really keeps the pace moving along and you wish he had more of a presence during some slower scenes.

Puffs is strongest when it pokes fun at the Potter franchise at a feverish pace, often melding together hilarious throwbacks to childhood in the '90s, like a gigantic folded paper fortune-teller as the Sorting Hat. The idiosyncrasies of each memorable professor - a stern pinched-faced Transfiguration teacher, a greasy-haired Potions teacher with slurred speech - are played out as if some alumni are giddily reminiscing about their own teachers from back in the day. With a mix of inside jokes and throwbacks, the zany happenings in Puffs are best for true Potterphiles who know the books and/or the movies - especially if those fans came of age in the '90s.

As a person who fit into both those categories, I enjoyed the little nods to the '90s throughout, including the hand-drawn design projected onto the yellow stage curtain via overhead projector. The cohesive, whimsical designs (production: Liz Blessing and Madeleine Bundy; costumes: Bundy; lighting: Michelle Kelleher; sound: Matt cox) are suggestive but never hinder director Kristin McCarthy Parker's fanciful fast-paced staging.

At its core, Puffs celebrates with both comedy and heart the wonderful world created by J. K. Rowling, brought to life in readers' imaginations and on film. After those seven books and eight movies, Potterphiles are left feeling nostalgic. Puffs lets us laugh and reminisce like an enjoyable class reunion that, perhaps, runs a little long and turns a bit raunchy. And, in a time when the Fantastic Beasts movie spinoffs are just beginning and perhaps the most famous Hufflepuff, Newt Scamander, is finally getting his due, why not celebrate these Puffs after all? Go Badgers!

Photo credit: Hunter Canning

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