A Review of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

This April while I was studying abroad in London, I had the opportunity to see the newest edition to the Harry Potter franchise: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Showing at the Palace Theatre in Soho, London, this play is a sequel to the original book series by J.K. Rowling. The script is written by Jack Thorne with the concept being a collaboration between J.K Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. The story is split into two separate parts directed by John Tiffany. When I went to the theatre, I saw both parts in one day. Upon exiting the theatre all guests are given a pin with #KeeptheSecrets on it to prevent major spoilers from circulating to those who cannot see the play quite yet. So, keeping my pin in mind I still thought it would be a great show to review considering it will be arriving in NYC for its Broadway debut April 2018.

The play features Harry Potter and his second child, Albus Severus Potter, 19 years after the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It picks up immediately where the epilogue left off and moves onward from there. Jamie Parker played Harry Potter in the performance I saw and he does a tremendous job portraying a now worn out, middle-aged Ministry of Magic employee. Parker embodies the beloved character extraordinarily well and really embraces the tensions of Harry’s life. Albus, was portrayed by Sam Clemmett who did a great job with such a complex character. The two actors had a great chemistry onstage and really bought the difficult father-son relationship to life.

A stellar performance was given by Anthony Boyle as Scorpius Malfoy, son of Harry’s childhood nemesis Draco Malfoy. Albus and Scorpius become immediate friends aboard the Hogwarts Express in one of the first scenes of the play. The two friends become involved in all sorts of shenanigans that test the limits of time and bring up issues of the past that continue to haunt Harry and his friends. The play is filled with twists and turns that fans of the original books will never see coming.  Containing a rather large cast, the play sends audience members on quite the journey with a few familiar faces along the way. The story does drag on at some bits towards the beginning of Part 2 and some subplots left me conflicted because they did not seem to be compatible with the Potter universe I remembered.

However, the magic of the technical aspects allowed me to look past these head-scratching scenes. Bringing magic to life is no easy task but the lighting, set and sound design teams excelled. Each design is exquisitely done and does its job of transporting the audience back into the Wizarding World.

The play broke a record at the Olivier Awards receiving 9 total (and deserving) awards. Though it has received a lot of mixed reviews from fans, critics praise the play. Most notably, the production receives the most praise for its actors and technical designs (light, sound, set). Fans have issues with some of the plot points (which I cannot mention more specifically because it would entirely spoil the play). While I agree with a lot of their criticism, I still believe it is a truly wonderful piece of theatre.

Overall, I would highly recommend trying to secure tickets to this production. My one piece of advice would be to take some of the subplots with a grain of salt and just allow yourself to be swept away but the outstanding staging and set designs. I would give it an 8/10.