A Magical Night with PUFFS: Penola's VCE Students Shine on Stage
Last night, the curtains rose on PUFFS: A One-Act Edition, delighting audiences with laughter, magic, and heart. Presented by the Penola Catholic College VCE Theatre Studies students, this parody of a certain well-known wizarding world celebrated not just the story of the "Puffs"—a house known for loyalty, kindness, and quiet courage—but also the talents and teamwork of a remarkable group of young performers.
Under the guidance of Ms Jane Dalli, the cast and crew brought to life Max Cox’s fast-paced, comedic script with creativity and flair. From puppetry and physical theatre to magical effects and witty storytelling, the students embraced every challenge of staging this parody, while balancing the demands of a busy VCE Term One.
The production was more than a show—it was the culmination of months of collaborative effort. Students took full ownership of every element, from design and set construction to costume, lighting, sound, and marketing. True to the spirit of the Puffs house, the ensemble worked as one, lifting each other up and proving that heroes come in all forms.
We congratulate the cast and crew for their outstanding work and dedication—and for reminding us all that being kind, loyal, and a little bit silly can be just as powerful as waving a wand.
Puffs was a truly magical experience. It was a tiring and stressful experience with emotions running rampant, but we genuinely had such a great time. Our biggest challenge was definitely the time constraints, with the VCE workload bearing over our heads, while trying to put together a full 90-minute show, design and build a set, plan lighting, sound, and gather props. The rehearsal process was tedious, with our class fully blocking/choreographing the entire show and lots of us having to deal with playing multiple contrasting characters. Summed up, the experience was just pure fun, and works to teach us all many life skills, such as negotiation, time management and compromise! A massive thanks to Miss Jane Dalli, Ms Jasinta Savage, Ms Diane Lee, Ms Allie Luecke, the maintenance team, our light and sound team as well as the student backstage team for all your help!
Mason H 12E
After many weeks of preparation that challenged our ability to stay focused, collaborate, and manage time effectively, I am so proud of the final outcome of our show: The Puffs! It was rough and daunting at times, but with boosts of motivation and guidance from peers and teachers, everyone put in an amazing effort. Despite the many limitations we faced with time and resources, our passion and commitment to our work in theatre ensured the show was cohesive, energetic and entertaining. I couldn't be happier with the end result!
Lachy H 12K
My Experience with 'PUFFS' was something I cannot explain. It was a great experience, working with my classmates on such a big project was so much fun, we made the stressful preparation fun such as games during warmups or people cracking jokes making the whole cast laugh. Everything was bought together nicely and even the support of everyone backstage during quick changes was amazing. The effort that everyone put in was amazing and I can't believe it was pulled together so well, even cover ups during mistakes in the show. I don't think I could ever imagine performing this show with any other group of people. A special Thanks to Katia and Petria prioritizing everyone else’s makeup over themselves, Lachlan and Mason preparing set and getting everyone to do warmups, Max and Patrick putting all their effort into preparing sounds, Ruby and Lachy for directing the show and keeping us all in order, Kayla and Chloe for helping me with props when I was heavily overwhelmed, Silas for helping with costumes and Nicole for running everywhere at once. Also, a very special thank you to our backstage, Hayden, Georgia and Michael, we couldn’t of done it without you helping. I can’t wait for the next show.
Leah W 11G
I highly enjoyed my experience of rehearsing and performing Puffs. Building a strong team dynamic, and embodying my character’s comedic tendencies all contributed to an amazing performance.
Max W 12H