Theatre Overview 2026-2027: Puffs

What an exciting year for theatre this will be! With shows picked for the intention of having large casts, or an advanced acting opportunity with switching characters, this season offers a wide variety of new opportunities. But what are these shows? Well I am here to discuss the two shows from this year’s theatrical season, Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic which will be the fall play, and Come From Away which will be the spring musical. My intention is to cover Puffs in this article and cover Come From Away in the coming months. With that being said, let's begin.

Background For Puffs

Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic by Matt Cox, is the comedic story of a magical boy who at the age of 11 finds out he is a wizard and travels to a special school for them. Although one might think this is the plot of Harry Potter it is actually the plot of Puffs. The story follows the life of wizard Wayne Hopkins and his time at a “certain magic school”. Originally this show premiered Off-Broadway in 2017 and was called “a funny intersection of J.K. Rowling's original work” by the New York Times. The play is well known for its 11 actor base, and over 50 characters that they have to play, which might seem a little hectic, but provides for a really funny experience.

The play’s reliance on improv is also quite impressive, to an extent where one character has to make a multi-minute monologue for themselves. The structure of the play is similar to that of its basis. Seven sections that tell the different years at this wizard school, the most hilarious being “Year 4: The Year Where the Puffs Mattered”. The events of the play overlap with the events of Harry Potter, and for those who have read the fourth Harry Potter book, you know that the (Huffle)Puffs play a pretty important part. This is the central comedy the play draws upon. Although, knowledge of the source material is not required to enjoy the play. Side note: As someone who was there to witness the reveal of Puffs, I can vouch that so many people in that room thought we were doing Cursed Child, which, I guess, shows how this can easily pass off as a “Potter Parody”.

Spoiler-Free Plot Summary of Puffs

What I mean by “spoiler free” is to anyone who hasn’t read the original Harry Potter books or has seen Puffs before. If you’ve read Harry Potter you only have a slight idea of what is going to happen in Puffs, so keep that in mind. Puffs starts with an introduction from the Narrator, who introduces the audience to the story of a wizard born with a lightning scar on his head, and how this story… is not about him. This story is about Wayne Hopkins, a wizard from Cattlepoke, New Mexico. He is an orphan who lives with his Uncle Dave. He gets accepted to a “certain magic school” where he learns about the four houses of the school: The Braves, The Smarts, The Snakes, and The Puffs. As a rule people think very little of the Puffs. Thus begins “Year 1: The Puffs and the sorcerer’s attempt at earning points and making friends.” With that introduction Wayne meets the rest of the Puffs and his two friends for the following years: Oliver Rivers and Megan Jones. Oliver is this play's equivalent to Hermione in the sense that he was born to non-wizard parents but possesses magical abilities. Megan is the daughter of the very scary witch Xavia Jones who works for the story's antagonist “Mr. Voldy”. Megan believes that she was sorted into the wrong house and thinks that she should be a Snake like her mother. We are also introduced to other less significant Puffs. Then Cedric Diggory walks in and introduces himself. Since he is a 4th year he serves as a mentor for the rest of the Puffs. As the year's title suggests the Puffs try their hardest to gain points through their classes and try to make friends. At the end of the year we learn the Puffs didn’t reach their goal of getting at least the 3rd most points. This is because a Mr. Potter’s actions saved the school and moved the Braves from 4th to 1st place. The Puffs feel disappointed, especially Wayne who throughout the year believes his story can be great, but since it’s the same as Mr. Potter’s he can’t tell it. To be spoiler free I will not be covering the rest of the play as I advise you to either be in it or go see it in November. If you can’t wait for some Puff action go find a recording online. Now that you know about Puffs what does the director have to say?

Why Puffs?

I asked Mr. Brock, the theatrical director at Springs, why he chose Puffs as the Fall play, and here is what he had to say:“After doing Hamlet – a four hour tragedy – last fall, I wanted to have fun! Puffs is a fast paced, short-ish (90ish minutes) comedy. The show also offers a lot of casting options (flexible cast size) and a lot of skill-set learning opportunities specifically: dialects, multiple characters, puppetry. Also, a certain boy wizard is about to be rebooted on HBO, so I thought it would be fun to play around with a parody/celebration of the books/movies leading up to that.” And I can’t help but agree.

Closing Thoughts

Whether you're in Puffs or not this is going to be an amazing show, and I highly encourage that you come support not only the program but your fellow peers and appreciate their hard work. The show dates for Puffs are November 6th through 9th. Can’t wait to see you guys there.