Don’t you miss that bespectacled Boy Wizard since he s tarted shaving, got a desk job and settled into a magical Barcalounger in the London ‘burbs?
So does Heather Blackthorn, the leader of a small Vancouver theater company called Pacific Stageworks.
“I read all the books. I saw all the movies. I lined up at the bookstore at midnight,” Blackthorn said. “I miss him so much.”
In those movies and books, He Who Must Not Be Named is the monstrous Voldemort, baddest wizard who ever was. But in “Puffs,” a loving stage parody inspired by the magical world created by J.K. Rowling, the key name that’s never uttered in its entirety is the one attached to that young, charming, magical rock star.
IF YOU GO
What: “Puffs, or, Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic” by Matt Cox.
When: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday; Oct. 11-12; 18-19; 25-26; Nov. 1-2. 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, 20, 27. Halloween night performance and dance party: 7 p.m. Oct. 31 ($25).
Where: Metropolitan Performing Arts, 6403 E. Mill Plain Blvd. Vancouver.
Tickets: $17; $15 for seniors and students; $12 for under 12.
On the web: www.pacificstageworks.org
He may be the Chosen One in Rowling’s seven-part saga, but in “Puffs” he and his always-triumphant posse only play supporting roles. Instead, “Puffs” focuses on the many Not Chosen Ones who never enjoy any spotlight or special treatment at that remote Wizard School. (You know the one.) It’s an affectionate comedy about the magical nerds and wallflowers who don’t rise to generational leadership and save the world.
“Imagine you’re an 11-year-old boy, but not that boy, who’s invited to go a school for witches and wizards, but not that school for witches and wizards,” Blackthorne said. “There are 400 other students at that school, and each of them has a story. This play is for everybody who wasn’t the most popular kid, the most successful, the best looking.
“It’s still about learning magic, making friends and facing adversity,” Blackthorn said. But in this version it’s awkward underachiever Wayne Hopkins who arrives at wizard school and promptly becomes a Puff.
That’s one of four residential houses at the school. The others are the Braves, the Smarts and the Snakes. Rowling fans know that those houses reflect their inhabitants’ personalities. Harry Potter (whoops, we said it!), a Gryffindor in Rowling’s world, would be a Brave in this one.
And what are Puffs like? Not heroic, brainy or wicked, Blackthorn said. They’re just nice.
And that’s a great thing, Blackthorn said.
“Given the way the world is now, a lot of us don’t know where we fit in. I started out as a Brave, but as I get into it I keep getting more Puffy,” she said with a laugh. “You can’t imagine how Puffy the whole company is. We just want to be friends.”
Given the lack of performing-arts space in Vancouver, Pacific Stageworks has rented the small black box theater that sister company Metropolitan Performing Arts recently remodeled on Mill Plain Boulevard to put on “Puffs.” It will be the Pacific Northwest premiere of the play, she said.
“Puffs” is aimed at Harry Potter fans, but it’s not exactly children’s theater. Appropriate for age 10 and up, it stars 11 adults, most playing several parts. Grown-ups who enjoyed the Potter books with their kids will love it, Blackthorn said. Everyone is encouraged to come in costume. Don’t forget your magic wand, she said.
Pacific Stageworks had to launch a Kickstarter campaign last spring to afford the $1,400 rights for the play, Blackthorn said, and has scheduled a long run: three shows a weekend for five weekends. The final weekend, Halloween weekend, runs Thursday through Saturday only.
“We were pretty bound and determined because we knew it would generate a lot of excitement,” she said. “This is our chance to go to back to wizard school. It’s like going home.”
