The props and costuming teams of Puffs work hard backstage.
By Lucy Domingo ’26
The Theatre Department’s fall production is preparing to take the Paul Mellon Arts Center (PMAC) stage with a comedy full of magic and props. Directed by English teacher Mrs. Katherine Doak, Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic, also simply known as Puffs, is a spoof on the famous boarding school for wizards and its corresponding wizarding universe.
While the actors worked on memorizing their lines, Mrs. Doak and Technical Director Mr. Mark Gostomski collaborated on something different: the set building process of Puffs. Describing Puffs to be “like an Elizabethan theater that represents over 40 places,” Mrs. Doak shared that the design inspiration was partially culled from historical images from the Tudor era and British buildings with a splash of “certain ways magical.”
For the first time in his career at Choate, Mr. Gostomski is leading the design team himself. “Typically, we have a guest set designer for all the mainstage productions,” he said. While Mrs. Doak imagined the design, Mr. Gostomski did the blueprints and drafting. Working with this term’s stagecraft students, Mr. Gostomski had plenty of help making the magical world come alive.
The play’s collection of intriguing creatures also add to the magic. Theater teacher Mrs. Deighna DeRiu is responsible for researching, ordering, and creating the props and costumes for all the creatures, an amount that was difficult to enumerate. There are “30 different categories and hand things. Then, we also have a huge snake we have to make … [and] 43 feet of books on the bookshelf,” Mrs. DeRiu said. As she tried to quantify the number of props in the show, a student joked, “Two thousand sixty eight!”
Because of the number of elements that need to be made, the process of creating each element is not as clear cut as one might think. Mrs. De Riu designed a multicolored chart listing everything by category to help her keep track. And while they often create similar props, the creative process of the team differs each time. The team uses the skills that they learn while making one prop to make another. “This is one of the best parts of theater because you use everything you know,” she explained. “I know how to sew and knit from my grandmother, and I used to build things with my father who was a mason. So, all those things that I learned how to do, they all come into play.”
With all this work, Mrs. DeRiu has plenty of passionate and enthusiastic students helping contribute to the final production. Beibhinn Geaney ’25, a veteran costumer, particularly enjoys it. “I have been doing this for a year now, and it’s the best decision I ever made,” she said. “It’s a lot: a lot of time, effort, and energy, but it’s really worth it.”
Mrs. Doak, Mr. Gostomski, and Mrs. DeRiu try their best to ensure they create a supportive environment for their students, especially with the long weeks of toil to come leading up to the performance. Ryder Rubenstein ’25 noted that part of why he loves participating in the production so much is because of the relaxed environment.
For Nila Rajan ’26, the people she works with are her favorite part. Anne Coady ’26, who works in stagecraft, wholeheartedly agreed. “I get to know people I normally wouldn’t get to know,” she said.
Puffs will debut in the PMAC on November 2, with performances continuing until the 5th.
