By Liz Ciocher
Correspondent
All College Theatre (ACT) put on a successful show with their production of “PUFFS” the weekend of Sept. 30, completely selling out of tickets for each showing. The play was a drama-comedy in a Harry Potter-inspired world.
All four performances were well received by its audiences, well-surpassing “Third or nothing!” as the characters said.
Students, parents and visitors turned out from everywhere to watch the show. Its comedic aspects connected with all types of people in the audience.
“Everyone did a really, really good job,” said sophomore kinesiology and health sciences major Katie Tapp. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Tapp went to the show’s opening night on Sept. 29 at Don Evan’s Black Box Theatre.
“The acting was really, really good and I really liked how multiple characters were played by the same person,” Tapp said.
The play was originally written by Matt Cox as a spoof of “Harry Potter.” It teases the idea of the wizard world of Hogwarts with jokes and comments poking fun at the novel’s premise. Even without prior knowledge about the franchise, the characters and scenes were easy to follow because of how developed the characters were from the beginning.
(Photo courtesy of Sky Yannello)
“My favorite character was Leanne,” Tapp said. “She brought light to the darkest parts of the show.”
Leanne was a student at the wizard school. She often provided comic relief, telling jokes to the crowd and cast even with the scene set in a mood of defeat. She was portrayed by sophomore and early childhood education major Sky Yannello, who has been involved in theater at the College since her freshman year.
“[PUFFS] was unlike any other show I’ve been in because we had only a month to put on such a fast-paced show with so many components,” Yannello said of the show’s production.
She praised the other cast members who worked alongside her during the show’s production, citing their talent and dedication.
“I admire how [the cast] was so talented in the ways they were capable of portraying a number of characters: changing their voices, physical appearances and overall demeanors.”
All of the four shows completely sold out of tickets with both student and general admission, but Yannello remembers the night of the Oct. 1 performance, which stood out especially.
“My favorite night was Saturday night — the crowd was the liveliest,” she said. “The excitement of the crowd boosted our adrenaline, really encouraging us to put on a show to remember. It was altogether a truly magical experience.”
Each scene was filled with jokes, wit and the occasional breakout of dance from the characters.
“The dance numbers were so fun,” Yannello said. “They added a whole new level of excitement to the show as we were able to physically put ourselves out there for the crowd in unexpected ways they haven’t seen us before.”
When asked if she believed the show to be a success, Yannello said, “Absolutely.”
Correction: A previous version of this story included the sentence "Its comedic aspects connected with all types of people in the audience, as there were more than just theater majors in the audience." This was changed as the College does not offer a theater major.
