With the start of spring and summer break drawing near, the CHS theater department has kicked off production of the school year’s final show, “Puffs”, which will have shows on Friday Apr. 25, and Saturday Apr. 26.  

The play is a parody of the “Harry Potter” franchise, following many of the same themes and plot points as the series but in a more satirical way. The cast and crew are filled with skilled, determined and hardworking students, and there are many obstacles that present themselves during the process of putting a show like this together.  

The show’s director and Central’s drama teacher, Scott Mead, said that Puffs has a sizable cast and crew, with a total of 72 cast and crew members working on the show.  The most common and trickiest issue is the use of the auditorium. Many different departments utilize the space, so it’s not rare for their schedules to overlap with rehearsals.  

“We always have to think ahead and plan around those events in order to put together the technical elements of the rehearsals.”  Mead said.  

Challenges also turn up on a personal level, when it comes to time management for students. Senior, and actor for Oliver Rivers in the play, DeVon Richards II discussed his issues with balance school, family and the play. Like all extracurriculars, it’s difficult to not feel stressed about school and work and home. There is also another problem when it comes to time, or the lack thereof.  

“We never seem to have enough time, so everything does kind of feel rushed, but it sometimes adds to the fun of it with how fast we are moving.” Richards said.  

In these situations, it’s important for students to stay dedicated and focused on the tasks at hand while working on the show.  

“While you’re here make sure you are fully present and doing what you’re supposed to and things like that,” Richards said. 

In theater there’s a lot more moving parts beyond what the audience sees onstage. There are students working on every aspect behind the scenes, but communication between the crew and the actors can be challenging.  

Sophomore Ashton Fischer is the head of scenery crew, designing the set, picking out paint schemes and instructing the rest of the crew. They find it hard to effectively communicate with the actors and get stuff sorted out. There’s the problem of putting up sets on stage while the actors are rehearsing.  

“Oftentimes our work towards the end of a show is limited to only Saturdays after the actors have left.” Fischer said.