This February, the Gibbons Drama program is presenting its production of Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a School of Magic and Magic, a play written by Matt Cox. Eleven incredibly talented underclassmen will be performing this hilarious Harry Potter parody the weekends of Feb. 2 and 8.

Matt Cox is an American playwright, director, actor, improviser, and sound designer based in New York City. He has authored and contributed to numerous other plays that have been produced in NYC, including The Magnificent Revengers and a radio play titled El Hombre Bovino. Puffs, written by Cox in 2015, is not a story about Harry Potter. It is a story about Wayne, a regular boy from New Mexico who receives an invitation to a school of magic in England. There, he experiences seven years of wacky adventures and evil wizards.

Upon arriving at the magical school, Wayne is brought into a sorting ceremony, in which incoming students are sorted into one of four houses: Braves, Smarts, Snakes, or Puffs. Naturally, Wayne is sorted as a Puff and is told by the group leader, Cedric, that being a Puff will make him an immediate candidate for vicious bullying. He makes friends with a mathematically-inclined boy named Oliver, the two of them hoping to succeed in their magic classes and be rewarded with good behavior points for their house. They befriend another Puff, Megan, who is adamant that she belongs with the Snakes, and whose mother has been placed in wizard prison for supporting the dark lord. The next six years present thrilling new challenges, enemies, romances, and life lessons for the Puffs. 

Ms. Emily Sartori, both the head of wardrobe for all productions and a Drama and Arts/Graphic Design educator, is directing this winter’s production of Puffs. She is an avid fan of the Harry Potter series and is thrilled to have the opportunity to work on this hysterical parody. Sartori has directed many shows at Gibbons, the most recent being her production of The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. Under Sartori’s direction, the cast, crew, and production team of both students and educators have dedicated weeks of hard work to prepare this demanding show for an audience.

Ben Guglielmo (Class of 2026) is playing numerous comedic characters in Puffs, one being Cedric Diggory. He hardly spends a minute of the show standing still.

“It creates this sort of… I want to call it chaos, but I feel like that doesn’t quite describe how fun and weird and bizarre it really is to be a part of,” said Guglielmo. “It’s truly wonderful to constantly be doing something new with every rehearsal… changing things up and getting to see all of my other castmates doing that as well.”

Logan Zeishner (Class of 2026), who is portraying Wayne in Puffs, was so excited to see technical elements integrated into rehearsals in the past few weeks.

“It is a fully immersive environment… we make perfect use of the space,” said Zeishner.

Zeishner, Guglielmo, and the rest of the Puffs cast encourages fans of Harry Potter, and even those who aren’t, to come experience this adorably magical tale about being the hero of your own story. Puffs runs for two weekends in the studio theater, closing Feb. 10. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at http://cghsnc.org/fine-arts/drama. Get them soon before they sell out!

Play Schedule: 

Feb. 2, 3, 8, 9: 7 p.m.

Feb. 10: 2:30 p.m. & 7 p.m.