Shadow Ridge’s upcoming fall play will be an entertaining show full of comedy, magic, and lots of fun! Shadow Ridge’s very own Mustang Mountain Theatre will be performing Matt Cox’s Puffs through Thursday, November 14, to Saturday, November 16, in the theater. Tickets will be sold on 5-Star and at the door for $5.00.
“Puffs is a really fun play about a certain school of wizardry and the students who are important to overcoming challenges, but may have been overlooked. If you like Harry Potter, I think you would definitely like Puffs,” Shadow’s theater teacher and director Ms. Hartley explains.
The play puts a unique twist on the well-known book and movie series, Harry Potter, with “Puffs” being an alternate name to the Hogwarts house “Hufflepuff.” Starting rehearsal only two weeks ago, the theater program is putting a lot of effort into preparing for this production.
Junior Tanner Merrill portrays Cedric, a lead role in the play. He remarks, “I am most excited about getting to know the cast and director since I am a new student to this school and theater program.”
Fellow actors in a play get to know one another while interacting onstage and offstage. A relationship between cast members is essential for a good performance.
“For the fall show, I wanted to do a show that the students would really enjoy and would have a flexible cast. After reading a few different plays, I finally decided on Puffs. I really love this show because it is a play made for actors,” Hartley shares. “There are multiple choices of lines for characters and places where the actors are told to improv. This makes each show a little new and exciting, and gives the actors creative freedom.”
“Improv,” short for the word “improvise,” allows actors to make up some of their own lines to fit the scene. As actors get into character, they learn how their character might react to a certain situation.
“I am preparing for the play by studying my lines to try and figure out the motivation behind each line and why it is important to the script,” Merrill comments.
Understanding one’s character helps the actors to perform their character accurately.
“I am starting to watch the Harry Potter movies to get into my character,” Landon Garrett, a freshman who plays the role of Harry Potter, explains. “My favorite thing about my character is that I can work on my British accent.”
Both Merrill and Garrett will be using British accents in the play, similar to their characters in the original books and movies, who come from England.
“The playwright, Matt Cox, leaves this aspect open. Some of the students will be using British accents but not all,” Hartley states.
People interested in attending the play can follow the Mustang Mountain Theatre Instagram account (@srhs_theatre) to stay updated.
