Shady Side Academy Senior School will present five performances of its fall play, “Puffs (One Act Edition for Young Wizards)” on Nov. 10-13, 2022.
Show times are Thursday, Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 11, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 12, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 13, at 2 p.m. in the Peter J. Kountz Black Box Theater of the Hillman Center for Performing Arts on the SSA Senior School campus, 423 Fox Chapel Road in Fox Chapel.
Tickets are $12 for students and $15 for adults at http://our.show/ssapuffs. Tickets also may be purchased at the door. Advance purchase is recommended as shows may sell out.
This play by Matt Cox takes a new look at a familiar adventure from the perspective of three potential heroes just trying to make it through a magic school that proves to be very dangerous for children. Alongside them are the Puffs, a group of well-meaning, loyal outsiders. Their hilariously heartfelt and epic journey takes the classic story to new places and re-imagines what a boy wizard hero can be.
The cast and crew include 30 students in grades 9-12. Playing the lead roles are sophomore Kevin Polke, of Fox Chapel, as Wayne Hopkins; junior Aaron Little, of Indiana Township, as Oliver Rivers, and senior Ellie Brisland, of Downtown Pittsburgh, as Mega Jones.
Students in supporting roles include:
Seniors: Elaine Gombos of O’Hara, Chelsea Kaufmann of Fox Chapel, Cole Patterson of Richland, Ben Rohr of Fox Chapel, and Kat Wolfe of Squirrel Hill.
Juniors: Jinny Guo of Franklin Park, Andrew Hoe of Hampton, Leo Rickard of Penn Hills, Madeira Semins of Squirrel Hill, and Kayla Zhu of O’Hara.
Sophomores: Jeffrey Brunner of Ross, Sophia Gombos of O’Hara, Kelita Nolan of Wilkins, and Juliet Krokosky of Monroeville.
Freshmen: Ethan Chen of Fox Chapel and Cassie Li of Nanjing, China.
Senior Ayli Davidson of Pittsburgh’s South Side Flats neighborhood is the stage manager and leads a student crew that includes seniors Grant Anderson of Plum and Zach Kamenov of Fox Chapel; juniors Trinity Brock of Penn Hills, Elle Caron of Apollo, Tashari Morgan of Carrick and Parker Roscoe of Indiana Township; sophomores Lila Cox of Sewickley, Tommy Kann of Fox Chapel and Ada Lin of Bridgeport, W.Va.; and freshman Sam Davidheiser of New Kensington.
Senior School Performing Arts Chair Dek Ingraham is the play’s director, staff member Austin Davidheiser is the production designer and technical director, and Tonya Lynn is the fight director.
Puffs (One Act for Young Wizards) is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com.
