REVIEW #313 Harry Potter: The Cursed Child (Theatre)

Set years after the deathly hallows, the play explores the school years of Albus Serverus Potter as he works his way through Hogwarts and all of the challenges that school presents.

Firstly I just want to start by saying this play is perfect at bringing magic to life, the special effects and wonderful transitions bring the wizarding world into reality! It’s a production I’d hope to be able to take my future kids to because I imagine for any young fan of the franchise, seeing this in person would make their imagination run wild! I’m always impressed by the creative set designs when I’m at the theatre but this was truly next level, bringing to life the Hogwarts Express, the forbidden forest and even the creepy aura of the Dementors. It was definitely a mix of comedy with a dose of drama which got the audience hugely attached to all of the new characters. My personal favourite was Scorpious, who was played brilliantly by Adam Wadsworth. The comedic timing was always spot on and competing with the potters is no easy feat but he certainly made it look so. I’d have to say that Moaning Myrtle was a close second, although she only got about 5 minutes of time on stage, she was brilliant and the actress matched the film version perfectly.

Now the dynamic trio, who were still heavily present in the show despite the central characters being the kids. Harry’s entire arc is really interesting, showing that he is still a heavily flawed character just trying to do his best, with no real answer on how to deal with life’s tribulations, before it was he who must not be named and now it’s parenthood. It explores the troubled relationship with his son which is really the entire premise of the production. Hermione is still brilliant of course and Ron, well Ron was brilliant from a comedic standpoint but my only criticism was that it always kind of made him the butt of the joke and considering he’s my favourite character, sometimes that was a little annoying. For lovers of Snape, The Cursed Child certainly dives into his heroic nature a lot more than the films and books, although it was only explored for around 10 minutes, it was still great to see.

Now I’ve made a point of not revealing any major plot points or spoilers because this is something that many people have yet to experience and although I went into it knowing what would roughly happen anyway, and still loved it, it wouldn’t be fair to ruin the surprise for everyone else. However one thing I will say, which is included in the premise of the show, is that time travel is involved. I do think that when exploring time travel it does leave everything open to possible plot holes, especially when the stakes are always so high in a franchise such as this. That being said, they do tend to explain most of it pretty well and it certainly makes for some incredible scenes that looked wonderful on stage.

My favourite scene would have to be the dementors, it was such a cool experience seeing them all travel around the theatre with the intense musical score behind it! I’d then have to say the finale moment, which was incredibly emotional, harry and his family having to relieve his past, the moment that started it all…and I’ll leave it at that! I could write for hours about The Cursed Child, a two part production which deepened my love for the franchise, from the films, to the books, to the stage! 

Overall (9.5/10)

Thanks for reading.

Callan