Ignite! Readers Theater finds certain kind of magic on stage with ‘Puffs’

Some people were born to be heroes. Brave souls who are practically destined to save the day or maybe even the world. They don’t back down from a challenge and get right back up every time they’re knocked down.

Puffs are not those people.

“Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic” is a parody of J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series of books as told by Hufflepuff students.

“Puffs” was written by Matt Cox. The Ignite! Readers Theater Booklight production, which runs Tuesday through Thursday, Aug. 28, at Spokane Civic Theatre, is directed by Kimberly Roberts.

The show covers seven years at a “certain school of magic.”

“Puffs” opens with the narrator (Ed Bryan) telling audiences about a young orphan who has a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. He’s not the important one though, as we soon meet Wayne Hopkins (Jonathan Anderson), a young boy who lives with his uncle in New Mexico.

After an owl drops off a letter from the school, Hopkins learns he is a wizard and is swept off to the train station. At the school, the students go through a sorting ceremony that places them in one of four houses: Puffs, Braves, Smarts and Snakes. Hopkins is sorted into the Puff house.

In the Puff common room, student Megan Jones (Emma Woodward) is convinced she was sorted into the wrong house, while self-appointed leader Cedric (Paul Sciarrio, who also plays Mr. Voldy) assures his classmates that they are a valid house and that they should root for third place in the House Cup competition.

Wayne bonds with Oliver Rivers (Connie Mack Overstreet) as they’re both new to magic. Later in the day, the pair realize Jones has gone missing. The pair eventually find her in the woods, where she reluctantly agrees to be friends with them after the narrator reveals that her mother, Xavia Jones (Jennifer Simmons), was imprisoned after working with the dark lord.

Over the next six years, the trio encounter a giant snake and a secret chamber, wizarding tournaments, the dark lord, first relationships, sport tryouts and more events that make them realize they can be heroes in their own way.

The “Puffs” cast also features Aaron Waltmann, Cayla Hoke, Alex Barclay, Beth Oltman, Elizabeth Hoffman, Darby Shuster, Gary Pierce and Charlotte McDonald.

Through her daughter, Roberts was very familiar with the “Harry Potter” books and films. Roberts read the first couple novels to her daughter to spark an interest in reading, and Roberts made it a tradition to celebrate her daughter’s birthday by taking her to the latest “Harry Potter” film, which were often released around her November birthday.

“Certainly, it’s common in today’s culture to have at least a passing knowledge of ‘Harry Potter,’ and I’ve discovered some people have far more than a passing knowledge of every little bit of ‘Harry Potter’ lore and all seven books,” she said.

Roberts said there will be some winks and nods to the “Harry Potter” books and films that should tickle those who do know about the story, but for those who never became Potterheads, or perhaps it’s been awhile since they spent time with the books or films, “Puffs” is varied enough from its source material to captivate audiences nonetheless.

As this is an Ignite! Readers Theater Booklight production, the show will be an in-concert style dramatic reading and won’t feature props, scenery or costumes, save for hats actors put on to differentiate from character to character.

In total, the 14 actors will portray more than 65 characters. Roberts brought in a dialect coach to help the actors with the various accents this show requires, but she otherwise trusts their acting abilities to seamlessly bounce between one character to another and back again.

Roberts has worked on several reader’s theater productions throughout her career, starting about 20 years ago when she was part of a group called the Spokane Radio Players. The group read original short scripts on public radio every Monday evening.

That group went on to perform as Corbin Players, putting on a benefit show twice a year at Corbin Senior Center that featured about 10 short plays.

“After that, it just kind of snowballed,” Roberts said.

She was involved with early Fast and Furious and Leftover festivals at Stage Left Theater. Her first full reader’s theater production with Ignite!, Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” which was adapted as a play by Christopher Sergel, drew on her non-theater career as a public defender. The next year, the theater produced Agatha Christie’s “Witness for the Prosecution.”

“Puffs” marks the third collaboration between Ignite! and Civic, following F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” which was adapted for the stage by Simon Levy, and Paul Rudnick’s “I Hate Hamlet,” both produced earlier this year.

Roberts, whose theatrical career has involved acting, directing and lighting design, said there are two collaborations planned for the 2025-26 season.

Roberts sees reader’s theater productions as a way to get actors of all experience levels and age ranges on stage. Her cast features two actors older than 70, four younger than 17 and a number of performers at a variety of ages in between.

“When we first proposed the collaboration, one of the goals was to involve mature actors who were probably quite experienced, but were of an age where they weren’t as confident about memorizing large line loads, or even about moving and blocking and standing for large periods of time,” Roberts said. “There were several scripts that could be done by highly qualified and talented, mature actors and (Civic Executive Director Jake Schafer) also thought it would be great to have an avenue to involve younger actors, younger high school and college actors that perhaps have never had a chance to perform outside their schools and might not be ready to step into large, memorized roles at Civic or other community or regional theaters.”

In a reader’s theater production, it really does come down to the actors and their ability to bring a script to life without the help of full costumes or sets. Roberts is positive audiences won’t leave “Puffs” feeling like something was missing.

“I can guarantee that if you see ‘Puffs,’ you’ll have a great time,” she said.