To See or Not to See: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

It’s nearly impossible for me to write an objective review of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as someone who grew up with Harry Potter. When I first read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, I was 11 (so was Harry in the book). I attended every midnight release party that I could (for both the books and the movies), until I attended what I thought would be the last Harry Potter release party, for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Imagine my joy when I learned that J.K. Rowling was going to continue Harry’s story and we’d get to learn about Harry, Ron, and Hermione as adults.

But then, I found out it was a play. And not really written by Ms. Rowling.

These trifling facts didn’t bother me. A Harry story was a Harry story. How I longed to revisit the world of Hogwarts and friendship and flying owls, even as an adult (especially as an adult–let’s face it, the world can be a rather grim place at times).

I went to a midnight release party for Cursed Child, happy to be surrounded by fellow Potter-philes. I read the play script, then I waited the interminable three months until I’d get to see the play. Because yes, my friends, I did sign up for the newsletter that allowed me early access to buying tickets back in October 2015. And yes, I did make plans with my best friend to fly across the Atlantic a year later to see the play. And yes, we did buy four tickets, reasoning that we’d be able to find somebody to buy them even if it wasn’t someone we knew (her brother and my sister ended up going with us).

This is all a long preamble to say–this play is truly magical.

It sounds cheesy. It sounds trite. But I can’t express it any other way. The attention to detail, the special effects, the production design, the staging, the acting, and the music (I’ve been a huge fan of Imogen Heap for years and it was a great joy to hear snippets of her songs throughout the play) all combine incandescently well. All plays are ephemeral, and therein lies the beauty of the play. This play, in particular, felt like watching a beautiful, effortless alchemy of extremely talented folks.

I’m going to #KeepTheSecrets about plot particulars, but in essence the story centers around one of Harry and Ginny’s children, Albus Severus Potter, who has a rough time fitting in at Hogwarts. Albus’s relationship with his famous father isn’t perfect and the play takes that as a launching pad for Albus to explore how and where he fits in within his father’s shadow.

I would highly, highly recommend this play (especially if you’re a Potterhead). Seeing it live was a special joy. Two of the actors broke during the play and it was fun to witness and take part in their mirth.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is playing in London at the Palace Theatre through December 2017 (though this will likely be extended). Note that the play is in two parts–on Wednesdays and Sundays you can see it straight through (with intermissions). All other days you can see either Part One or Part Two.

Photo Credit: Manuel Harlan