Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions
1 March 2020
Princess Theatre
harrypottertheplay.com/au
Going back to a show that you loved is a little bit scary. What if it's got tired? What if the new cast aren't as lovely? What if your memory of the show was tainted by the enthusiasm of every one else who saw it? What if if just isn't as good?
I loved Harry Potter and Cursed Child last year and it was an easy pick for one of my favourite shows of 2019.
I was overly excited to see it again and secretly terrified that I'd wish I'd kept the first memory.
Is it still the best?
Yes.
I think I loved it MORE this time.
Critically, there's nothing that hasn't been said. Throw all the stars at it. Any issues with a slightly clunky script and a tendency to sentiment are dismissed by story choices, complex characters and impossible dilemmas that need to play at the extremes of the emotional scale to feel deserved. The sentiment isn't unearned melodrama.
Even though the promise to #KeepTheSecrets has been dropped, the thought of denying anyone the surprises, joy and tears is too unfair. The pay offs are worth it, from geeky quivering to plunging back into the book stories and being with characters that we understand far better than they know themselves because we've known them since they were 11.
Maybe we can start discussing the intricacies of the story next year. (If you don't know if someone has seen it and don't want to ask them outright, ask "Is that a farmers market?".)
Meanwhile, so much of the joy of being there is spending the day with friends and strangers who know this world and want to talk about which house you're in.
Technically what happens on the Cursed Child stage is as close to perfect as staging can be. The tricks are hidden, without ever denying that they are tricks and without ever doubting that they are magic. Without any stage distraction – the magic works every time – the audience are free to be in the world and only have to worry about the story and the characters. Never seeing the outrageous cleverness of the technology is the genius of the technology.
All of which would mean nothing if the cast faltered. If a cape swish were halfhearted, if a stair move were out of sync, if a background glance weren't in the right direction, the magic would be broken. It never is.
This Harry Potter story is a different experience from reading the books, seeing the film (or cosplaying or indulging in fan fiction). This story is driven by the personal rather than the magical. While the films can create house elves and hippogriffs – and imaginations create anything as we read – a stage story is limited to a box. The staging IS remarkable, but it's secondary to the personal experiences of the characters. We don't cry because someone can go back in time, we cry because of why they do it.
The significant new cast members (Nyx Calder as Scorpius Malfoy and Michael Whalley as Ron Weasley, and Gillian Cosgriff moving to Delphi Diggory and Jessica Vickers to Moaning Myrtle) slip in like they've always been there and prove that there's room to bring new insights to the characters; Cosgriff's Delphi is especially exciting and terrifying.
And seeing how the existing cast have developed the characters is another reason why the show isn't going anywhere. Sean Rees-Wemyss (Albus Potter), Gareth Reeves (Harry Potter) and Tom Wren (Draco Malfoy) have each brought a depth of understanding that adds dimensions to a story full of dimensions. And Paula Arundell (Hermione Granger) and Lucy Goleby (Ginny Potter) continue to bring guts and courage to the women who love Harry but know his faults better than anyone.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is still everything fans could dream of and is guaranteed to convince the most skeptical muggle that magic is real.
It's also prohibitively expensive. And, even knowing that this is what it costs to make something this good, that still breaks my heart. I want every one who has loved the books to experience this show.
It's worth saving up for and entering the Friday Forty every week. But I will keep asking that producers and governments and organisations with money consider what they can do to make this an experience that isn't restricted to people who can afford it.
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