Muggles in the Clinton area were given a free opportunity to enter the wizarding world of Harry Potter this past weekend through the Hogwarts at Hamilton performances.

The shows, which are centered around the popular book and movie franchise

Harry Potter

took place in Benedict Hall on the evenings of Fri. Oct. 27 and Sat. Oct. 28. All donations went toward the Kirkland Public Library.

The Hogwarts at Hamilton cast decorated four separate classrooms Hogwarts-style to represent different classes, inspiration for which was pulled directly from the Harry Potter series. For example, one of the classrooms was for Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Tour guides led the audience members through the rooms at each show. Tour guides also grouped audience members into one of the four Hogwarts houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff.

The road to Hogwarts at Hamilton begins on one of the first weekends of the school year, when auditions are held for interested students. The e-board then casts roles for the annual weekend shows. The stretch of time between the casting and the shows themselves is filled with rehearsal and planning. The cast decides on the rooms and splits themselves up into groups based on room. Each room has a leader who decides when they will meet each week to rehearse together. The room groups practice separately and come together for dress rehearsals.

David Tener ’21, who played Xenophilius Lovegood, was part of the Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Defense Against the Dark Arts classrooms, as well as two common rooms.

Tener noted that a formally-written script is not a part of the rehearsal process; rather, the cast formulates a loose outline of plot points and lines and improvises the rest. “It’s a loose script,” Tener said, adding, “We’ll have lines for beats and cues, but there’s room to improvise.”

The cast makes sure to include many jokes relevant to the Hamilton community in this loose script. Abby Henkel ’21 was one of the audience members placed in Hufflepuff group on Saturday night. As a first-time attendee of the annual Hogwarts at Hamilton performance, Henkel found it a positive experience. She especially enjoyed the humorous Hamilton-twist on Hogwarts.

“It was entertaining. You can tell they put thought into connecting the story into campus jokes,” Henkel said. “It almost felt like you were in the story but then there’s a sense that you’re still at Hamilton.”

Benedict Hall has been the venue of choice for the Hogwarts at Hamilton cast for the past decade or so. Andy Letai ’19, a member of the e-board for Hogwarts at Hamilton as well as the self-described “overlord” of the cast, explained the decision-making process behind picking Benedict Hall. “The building has a good layout for us, and it’s easy to go through,” Letai said. “The big staircase inside also looks kind of Hogwarts-y.”

Henkel believes it was a wise choice. “[Benedict Hall] is a cool, old building. If you had to get something that was Hogwarts-esque, it would be in there,” Henkel said.

The shows all take place in Benedict Hall, but there are two very different Hogwarts at Hamilton experiences for audience members to choose from. In the early evening, the cast offers their family-friendly shows. Later in the night, the non-family friendly shows take place. Henkel attended a non-family friendly show on Saturday night and noted that the jokes probably had a more sexual connotation than the ones told at the family-friendly shows.

Letai confirmed that this is the main difference between the two different performance categories. They also specifically chose not to hold their performances on Family Weekend for multiple reasons.

“We were worried that, during family weekend, people would be with their families, which would hurt general attendance. Our cast wants to spend time with family, too. And we thought some people would bring their parents to the adult shows.”

However, this does not mean that the shows are just for the students. President David Wippman played a role in the cast for the second time, acting as caretaker Argus Filch. Last year, Wippman played Professor Quirinus Quirrell.

“Last year we asked him on a whim, and then he was super enthusiastic,” Letai said. “It’s just so much fun.”

Though Hogwarts at Hamilton only puts on shows annually, these past performances have not been their last event of the year. Later in the year, the group plans to host a “Yule Ball” open to all of campus through LateNite at Hamilton.