Tiger thespians do a Potteresque tale with 'Puffs'

TEXARKANA, Texas - Taking a spin on the Harry Potter world, Texas High School's Tiger Theatre Co. presents a production of "Puffs" this Saturday through Monday at the school's John Thomas Theatre.

Performances will be held Saturday and Monday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the theater inside the Sullivan Performing Arts Center, 3941 Summerhill Road. Tiger Theatre Company will also show it streaming online at ttcths.booktix.com on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Subtitled "Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic," the play was written by Matt Cox, a New York-based playwright, in 2015 as a comedy filtering the Harry Potter series through a different, comedic lens, offering the perspective of the Puffs.

Cate Rounds, Tiger Theatre Company member and a Texas High School senior, serves as the student director, working under drama instructor Melissa Newton. Rounds is a "Potterhead" who saw this show a year ago and was inspired to pursue it at Texas High.

"I have had the most fun with my first time directing This show will make you laugh, cry and it will keep you rooting for the underdogs," said Rounds in a statement about the production.

In an interview, Rounds said she's a big fan of Harry Potter in general and when she saw the show at Texas Thespians Festival last year she knew she wanted to do it in some way. "Whether it was acting or directing," she said about this first time directing her cohorts in the theater program.

"I'm a big actor and that's what I've done from the time I was 10 years old up until now, so it was different seeing this new perspective within the theater," Rounds said, calling it an amazing learning experience for her.
What does she love about this play? Well, it's great comedy, but there's depth here, too.

"It's one of the funniest shows that I've seen in a long time," Rounds said. "I'm a big fan of comedy shows." But she says with this "out there," crazy and tech-heavy show, there's serious meaning behind it. "I love that about it," she says.

Newton said it's different than what she normally directs, so she was intrigued by the detailed proposal Rounds offered. She tries to have her thespians do different things in different years to appeal to various audiences. This adds comedy to her students' resumes.

"This is just trying to hit another place in the programming and give students an acting opportunity. We haven't done a lot of comedies over the last couple years," Newton said.

A limited number of live tickets are available because of social distancing within the theater space, but it is a large theater with plenty of seating. The audience will need to wear masks.

Newton's role is to be there for Rounds to answer questions and be a sounding board for ideas, plus behind-the-scenes work. "Almost like more of a producer for this show than the director since Cate was doing the directing," she said about her role in support of the production.

Because of character deaths, the play is recommended for children ages 10 and older. The show's run time is two-and-a-half hours, intermission included.

(Tickets: $10 for adults and $4 for students. They can be purchased by emailing [email protected]. Attendees must wear masks and social distancing will be enforced. More info: Call 903-794-3891, ext. 2408 or follow Tiger Theatre Company on Facebook and Instagram.)