Yer a Wizard Patrick!

On Tuesday night I managed to combine my love of Neighbours with my love of Harry Potter and the result involved hopping along to the Alex Theatre in St Kilda to see Puffs, a play about the Hufflepuffs that went to Hogwarts at the same time as Harry. But what does this have to do with Neighbours I hear you ask? Well the actor playing Cedric Diggory was infact none other than Rob Mills (or Millsy as everyone calls him round here) who plays Elly's ex, the dastardly Mr Finn Kelly who was so hell bent on becoming the Principal of Erinsborough High that he poisoned Susan by switching her meds with Piper's and then manipulated one of his student's, Xanthe, to fall in love with him so she could do all his dirty work. Then he had an aneurysm and went to jail but he's currently back and brought Elly's long lost sister with him and is pretending to be a paraplegic called Partick in an attempt to somehow win Elly back and I assume poison Susan all over again. Good old Neighbours and their ridiculous plots!

When I got to the theatre I was really impressed at how beautifully decorated the foyer was and at the range of merchandise that was on offer. As a proud Hufflepuff myself, I had to restrain myself from buying everything and I ended up walking away with just a t-shirt and a programme (although I very nearly bought a beanie as well). The auditorium was also vastly decorated with bunting, books, portraits all over the walls (without their subjects standing in them because they were obviously elsewhere or very shy) and two notice boards with amusing notes and posters plastered all over them.

The play itself was really well paced and hilarious and was taylored beautifully to the Australian audience. There were a lot of in jokes taken from both the Harry Potter books and films that they didn't waste time explaining. The overriding message of the play was that some people are destined to be the hero but a lot of people aren't and that you should embrace your mediocrity as long as you try your best which I think is a really lovely message to promote and it was such a perfect celebration of Harry Potter fandom.

As a Brit who has only seen Millsy in Neighbours up until now, I was eager to find out why the Aussies all love him so much (he was in Australian Idol and ever since has become a firm favourite on the telly and on the stage). He played Cedric so well and for the first time in my life I actually warmed to the character as I really can't stand Robert Pattinson...even before he became a shit vampire!

After the show, the whole cast mingled in the foyer afterwards and chatted merrily with the audience. Whilst I was waiting for my friend to come back from an urgent mission to find some abandoned knitting outside, I managed to catch Millsy briefly and gush at him about how much I loved Neighbours and Finn Kelly's dastardly ways.

Two specky gits!

I think everybody on Ramsay Street will concur that he is 100% a Snake!

Puffs is on at the Alex Theatre in St Kilda until the end of July. There is a lot of adult humour in this play but the weekend matinees are suitable for all ages. Go to the website for more details and ticket bookings.