Puffs: A Review

By Fernando Neto

Puffs is a funny play that's a little hard to follow but worth it for the story. The play follows Wayne Hopkins (Matt Goldman) through his journey into a magical school. In said school, Wayne slowly starts to meet new people, and the audience meets the two other protagonists of the play, Megan Jones (Nehir Cakan) and Oliver Rivers (Shane Keleshian). The crowd follows them and other characters through their seven eventful years at this magical school while they come to face bullies, challenging classes, stereotypes, and battles. At the end of the play, the characters realize that they aren't all just side characters of a play but instead that they all hold a purpose and have their own intriguing stories to tell.

While also having a fantastic plot, this play has many other significant aspects. First, the casting. Overall, ten out of ten casting. The cast made the show very good (even though some understudies acted in the play the night I went). The casting consisted of Matt Goldman as Wayne Hopkins, Nehir Cakan as Megan Jones, Kiera Stanton as The Narrator, Shane Keleshian as Oliver Rivers, Soren Krauss as Cedric / Voldermort / A Very Tall Man, and more. Each of these people did their part in the play well. Whether narrating some confusing scenes and clearing them up for the audience, making funny mature jokes and keeping a straight face, or just being able not to break character mid-scene, each of these actors and actresses managed to do amazing in their part in this play. 

Not only was the acting excellent, but the hair, makeup, and costumes were amazing! Amalia Mertiri (head of costumes) and Soyna Moiseyeva (head of hair and makeup) did a fantastic job! The outfit changes and the simplicity of some characters' outfits, yet the complexity of others, are incredible. My favorite look was Voldemort's look with the purposely messy makeup and the bald cap. I honestly thought it was hilarious! Soren did an excellent job playing him as well. And some of the teacher's costumes fit perfectly with the types of personalities that they portrayed throughout the play. 

Puffs was very good and exceeded my expectations of how this play would turn out! It's a very fast-paced and funny play, and I loved every little bit of it. The crew and cast for Puffs did amazing on hair, makeup, costumes, jokes, scenes, and more. I recommend seeing this play. I suggest that people start watching more of Medfield's plays because, based on this play, they're filled with creativity and laughter and are great to watch! 

A Ride to Rydell

By J Xu-Allan and Fernando Neto

Medfield High School Theater Society changed its tune this year, opening the season with its annual musical instead of the usual play. This was a welcome change, as Grease was a phenomenally executed show, filled with many talented students. Grease follows Danny Zuko, a high school student and leader of the T-Birds, played by James O’Loughlin, and Sandy Ollson, a transfer student to Rydell High, played by Kiera Stanton. The two main characters have a heartfelt summer romance and unexpectedly meet again when Zuko discovers Ollson is now attending his high school. The play explores whether their private summer romance can withstand the pressures of high school and the ridicule of their teenage peers. 

In order to make the play appropriate for the high school setting, some dialogue had to be changed, which took away some of the related factors from the original Grease. This inevitably left some of the dialogue was truncated and Sandy’s deeper transformation only lightly touched upon.  Zooming into the characters of the play, and focusing more specifically on Medfield High School’s version— directed Julia Snider and Ann Marie Tremblay— while some characters were altered, the actors selected for the show were amazing and the selection of the cast made the play all worthwhile. The chemistry of the cast and crew allowed for any minor setbacks to almost go unnoticed and the strengths of the crew and cast shone.

All in all, Medfield High School Theater Society’s production of Grease was an incredibly well-produced performance, the themes of which may have hit close to home to some students in the audience, despite being first released 45 years ago, and we cannot wait to see what they will deliver for the play come spring!