Vea Vavrosky, Matt Call, Eden Myers, Aiden Earley, Valerie Moore, Tommy Ratkiewicz, Emma Hughes, Savannah Skidmore, and Aaron Deneckere.in Puffs
Background characters essayed by day players. Casts of thousands. Movies are crawlin’ with ’em. Nobody much cared about the usually unnamed souls who were rarely part of the plot, and they still don’t. But Puffs, a boy-wizard spoof subtitled Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic & Magic, shines a spotlight on them (without casting “lumos,” because that’s a proprietary spell).
Matt Cox conceived Puffs in 2015 as a semi-improv show to run for three weeks at New York City’s The PIT (People’s Improv Theatre). It then moved off-Broadway, playing in two theatres for a total of three years. Its success led Cox to publish the script through Concord Theatricals, plus a one-act version and a kids’ version. (The original script, presented here, has foul language and boner humor.) It’s currently tied for fifth as the country's most-produced full-length school play. A 2018 filmed production was released through Fathom Events, and during COVID, three sequels were available on YouTube. TL;DR: It’s popular.
As a parody, Puffs is safe from the wrath of Rowling and Warner Bros (who already have enough money anyway). But if they wanted to sue this delightful two-hour spectacle for taking place in a magical school with wands, a long-bearded headmaster, and a talking hat, where competing houses play a flying game with brooms and balls (here, called “Sports!”), they’d have grounds. Also, fabulous critters studied include Tolkien’s balrog, Dungeons & Dragons’ Beholder, and Sesame Street’s Mr. Snuffleupagus. Wow, they’re just begging to get sued, right? The Black Box Theatre handed Kailey Ackerman and Kat Jecklin the wands for this production, for both direction and design. They’ve managed the chaotic mischief to form an impressively easy-to-track story, especially considering that most of the cast of 11 portray multiple characters.
Three who don’t are the terrific trio of Aaron Deneckere as Wayne, Vea Vavrosky as Oliver, and Elissa Dynes as Megan – the bootleg versions of the heroic friends from the Franchise That Must Not Be Named. But these students were sorted into “Puff” House, not “Brave” House. Wayne has an eerily similar origin story to the Boy Who’s Alive, except he’s American. His starry-eyed determination to be a capital-H Hero is as constant as his Star Wars T-shirt, but not, as you might guess, his actual destiny.
Deneckere is a talented multiple-threat theatre artist with an impressive catcher’s arm whose acting I hadn’t seen before. Same with Vavrosky, who assistant-directed Quad City Music Guild’s The Prom, and here endearingly played a wide scope of emotions. I enjoyed Dynes as a book shop employee in 84 Charing Cross Road at Richmond Hill Barn Theatre, and she played sullen Megan with a lot of charm. So to speak. All three showed various flavors of vulnerability, but also camaraderie and heroism during the final battle, while Cayla Odendahl – who previously enlivened a different parody character, Van’s Sister (Lucy) in the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's Dog Sees God – is funny and smooth as her Narrator walks us through the plot.
Meanwhile, the seven-member ensemble that plays all the other Puffs roles is sublime. Emma Hughes is fun as multiple professors, as well as Hannah and Megan’s Mom. The effervescent Matt Call portrays the hapless yet optimistic J. Finch, Neville, Krum, and Zach Smith, a Sports! captain whose big monologue varies from performance to performance. (On Thursday, it was about a cloaca.) Eden Myers plays Leanne, Ginny, and others with an Olympics-worthy accent game – nailing British, Scottish, and French. Savannah Skidmore nimbly plays Sally, Malfoy, and one of the three Hermiones in the brief Time-Turner scene.
The dazzling Tommy Ratkiewicz plays to type as golden superstar Cedric, relentlessly talented and kind. Wisely, his downfall isn’t played for laughs. He’s also droll as Voldy, whose name we can’t say. Likewise, the double-cast Valerie Moore is amusing as Harry, recognizable by round glasses, a smirk, and signature finger-gun gesture. Aiden Earley portrays Ernie Mac and various professors, most entertainingly A Certain Greasy-Haired Potions Teacher. He also has genuinely touching speeches as Headmaster (though several actors wear that beard held on with string). Individually terrific, the Puffs are also a collective joy, especially when they get into Emergency Formation #7 (the Macarena) and get blotto on liquid refreshments. Perhaps I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Beer?
If you know Puffs' source material, you'll likely enjoy the show more than those who don't; the whole script is an IYKYK affair. Some bits land perfectly, although admittedly, others sound like improv artifacts from 2015 rather than well-crafted lines. (When someone says Neville “will probably stay ugly forever,” it’s a clunky reference to film actor Matthew Lewis becoming a hottie. Ha – ha?) And while gremlins were evidently active in the lights programming on opening night, at least they didn’t disrupt the show much. After all, the school is haunted, there’s night-skulking, and maybe some first-year dropped a vial of Peruvian Instant-Darkness Powder. Anyway, there’s a basilisk, slug vomit, a singing egg, flying books … . It’s a good time!
Puffs runs at the Black Box Theatre (1623 Fifth Avenue, Moline IL) through August 15, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)284-2350 and visiting TheBlackBoxTheatre.com.
