Theatre Review | Puffs or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic

Puffs or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic

by Matt Cox

Pop-Up Theatre at The Entertainment Quarter

Reviewed by Ron Lee, CSP

Thousands of Harry Potter fans have been enjoying the Puffs off-Broadway for a few years and now it’s Sydney’s turn.

Having not been exposed to any of the Harry Potter films or books, I missed most of the references but many of the fans turned up in costume and clearly picked up on every in-joke and nuance. The last Harry Potter-inspired production I saw was Potted Potter which covered the seven books in seventy minutes. In that production I could follow the plots, so anyone who was unfamiliar with the franchise could appreciate and enjoy it.

For me, the only reference points in this one was that Ryan Hawke as Wayne looked like George Costanza and Adam Marks as Oliver could have been Buddy Holly.

Although most of the cast are young and have been professionally trained, it wasn’t clear if they were overacting, or was it the simply the style of the production?

Puffs isn’t like a pantomime where double entendres are meant for adults. It’s clearly aimed at younger Harry Potter fanatics and the fast pace will keep them interested. Once word gets around, the remainder of the season should be a sell-out.