‘Puffs’

QUINCY — Some people are born to save the world. And some are born to, well, sit next to those heroes in class.

“It’s really about the underdogs,” said director Haliey Weber. “They don’t want fortune or fame. They don’t care to be super smart or brave or cunning. They just are really loyal and they care about the people they care about.”

The world of “Puffs” will look familiar, but don’t be fooled. Sure, there’s a boarding school with four houses — the Braves, the Smarts, the Snakes and the Puffs — and a dark lord, and messages delivered by owl and lots of wizard-y classes, but “Puffs” is not to be confused with the more famous story. Rather, it tells the story of Wayne (Sawyer Golay), Megan (Jasmine Vasquez-Navarro) and Oliver (Jerrod Miller), who happen to be in the background while all that is going on. Wayne is a math-loving nerd who wasn’t born to wizardry but is trying to catch up, Megan is a would-be goth girl who resents being a Puff, and Oliver is an orphan raised by his uncle. Together, the three navigate the pitfalls of learning magic, as well as competing in a tournament, battling a giant snake and resisting the Death Buddies, one of whom is Megan’s mom. All while living in the shadow of the great young wizards of the other story.

“I try to find an adventure of my own,” Golay said. “Like Harry’s getting all of these crazy adventures. What about me? I want my own story. I want to be remembered in history. And then I realize that doesn’t happen to everyone.”

Megan’s challenge is a bit closer to home, Vasquez-Navarro said.

“When I realize that my mom doesn’t care that much, I get really upset and I just let it out on everyone,” she said. “The Puffs are this; the Puffs are that. Why would I want to be a puff? But all of our angsty and mean times don’t really last. They just get over really quickly.”

Through the whole thing, a romance develops between Wayne and Megan, with Oliver as a third wheel. The couple tries to find Oliver a love of his own, Miller said.

Seven years is a lot to pack into a play, and “Puffs” has 45 scenes between two acts. Except for the three central characters, every actor plays multiple parts, which presented some challenges, Weber said.

“It’s almost like a farce,” she said. “You have to move quickly and talk quickly. But we’re working on diction and articulating to ensure that (the audience) can understand (us). (We’re) really leaning into comedy, because if you don’t, then it’s not funny. It’s a style that we’ve really never done here before, and so it’s been fun to educate the students. We also did a wand clinic, so they learned how to equip their wands and learned different fighting stances.”

“Puffs” was written originally for an improv theater group, Weber said, and the script has several spots where characters are given multiple options for a line or can insert one of their own.  At one point, a character played by Owen Yeates has as much as 10 minutes’ improvised monologue time.

“I can either improv every night, or I have a scripted one that I have memorized,” Yeates said. “I can go wherever I want with the monologue, and (Weber) has given me points and tips on how to improv better.”

The props are another challenge. There’s a giant snake puppet, and an enormous scroll of curses that unfurls from the ceiling to the stage. One student came up with all the curses, said Prop Mistress Odessa Lybbert. Another made stained glass windows to represent the four houses. There are a few Easter eggs slipped in that audiences should watch for, Lybbert said.

“One of the main trio carries a stack of books, and each of the titles are incredibly funny when you read them,” she said. “And there are some references in the list of curses. Both of those things should be able to be read from offstage.”

The final battle of “Puffs” covers seven pages of script and an insane number of entrances, exits and character changes.

“Puffs” is a reminder, Golay said, that famous stories aren’t the only stories worth telling.

“It’s … focusing on us, even though we’re side characters and we’re not having big, crazy adventures,” he said. “But we’re still going through our own life. Other people’s story matters as well, even though they’re not really the main character of the story.”

    The cast of “Puffs” held clinics to perfect their wand techniques, said director Haliey Weber.
  

    Viktor, one of six characters played by Owen Yeates, enters the wizarding tournament in “Puffs.”