With the Wellsboro Comic Con quickly approaching, the cast of Puffs is meeting multiple nights per week at the Warehouse Theater in Wellsboro to rehearse for their upcoming 5 performances that will be offered August 8 – 11. The full title of this hilarious show is Puffs: Or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic. This action-packed parody doesn’t hold back in poking fun at the original, especially when it comes to pointing out that the hero of one story is not necessarily the hero of another. Unlike the death-defying main characters of the story that inspired this play, the lead Puffs players are not perfect, not over-achievers, and definitely not in the in-crowd. Their inspiring chant, “Third or nothing!” is an uplifting mantra for all of us who felt like outsiders, always adjacent to the main event, never the star of the show. If they can just not come in last place this year, they will be over-the-moon. 

Covering seven years of life at this very dangerous British school of magic, the show necessarily moves along at lightning speed. Director Cody Losinger remarks, “To make this show work the cast has to be able to pick up their cues quickly. They need to know their lines, entrances, exits and costume changes very well. We’re planning on having more full run-throughs in our rehearsal process than a show normally would so that the cast has more opportunities to practice putting it all together and keeping the pace up.” 

Leading this band of hopefully-not-in-last-place aspiring wizards is the character Wayne Hopkins, played by HG veteran Jaden Bartlett of Mansfield. Jaden is currently a student at Penn West Edinboro University in Edinboro, PA, and had the opportunity to direct this show there in a previous semester. Jaden’s familiarity with the story is a great anchor for this production. In other lead roles as part of the house of Puffs are West Guignard as Oliver and June Roth as the rebellious Megan, both of Wellsboro, and both seen in last year’s popular Anne of Green Gables. These three characters, Wayne, Oliver and Megan, coping with more bumps in the road and baggage than the average magic school undergrad, become, of course, friends forever. 

Sponsored by David Kenner Boley and Emily & Ken Childs, this hysterical and heart-warming lampoon will entertain both Potter devotees and non-followers alike. Losinger’s energetic direction and the talent and enthusiasm of this ensemble cast of eleven teens and young adults will surely be a highlight of your Comic Con weekend in Wellsboro. Performances are Thursday, Friday & Saturday August 8, 9 & 10 at 7:30pm, Saturday, August 10 at 12:00pm, and Sunday August 11 at 2:30pm. On Saturday during Comic Con, the Warehouse Theater at 3 Central Ave in Wellsboro will be open all day, offering “butter beer” and other light food and refreshments for sale to Comic Con goers and anyone seeing the show. Tickets are $16 for adults, and $8 for under 18, available at hgp.booktix.com, or by calling 570-724-2079.