PUFFS THE PLAY

Even from the foyer of the Brisbane Powerhouse it was easy to determine most of those attending Puffs the Play.

It was necessarily limited to age, gender or even the errant Gryffindor scarf, there’s just a vibe of people who would see an off-Broadway comedy spoof on Harry Potter.

Oops, am I allowed to say it’s related?!

Puffs is for the fans!

Definitely not for the HP virgins or one to drag that one friend you’ve been trying to convince to read the series, Puffs is a hoot of a play cramming seven books worth of material into about 100 minutes plus interval.

There are in-jokes and winks for the audience, some jokes just for the true believers and others that become hilariously laboured making them all the more funny.

There’s tongue-in-cheek jesting about what they can and can’t say before infringing on copyright and there’s an adult sensibility to what was once meant for children.

Most of all Puffs is fun – the actors are having fun, the audience is having fun, surely even JK Rowling herself would be swept up in a play that is as much in love with the Harry Potter series as the most diehard fan!

One such diehard fan was right behind me guffawing so loudly it was hard to tell if I was laughing at what was happening on stage or responding to his sheer glee.

In any case, Puffs is a hoot – a highly entertaining, slightly nostalgic, clever piece for the stage that had me laughing out loud and yearning to delve back into a wonderful series of books.