A shazzam of a show full of tears, cheers and epic magic: Jan Moir takes a first look at Harry Potter And The Cursed Child
When JK Rowling was asked last month if her new two-part play Harry Potter And The Cursed Child would make fans cry, she replied; ‘If it doesn’t, we’ll be checking your vital signs.’
Over two nights of cape-swishing wizardry, a preview audience in London were the first to learn exactly what she meant.
When the curtain came down on the second night performance, fans were cheering more than they were weeping – but tears had been shed along the way. We had all been through a time tunnel of Potterish complexity, one that at times left the audience gasping with delight – and sometimes dismay.
Wizard! Many Harry Potter fans dressed up for the hottest ticket in town
The pared-down production was studded with truly magical magic, from levitating broomsticks to bits of gasp-inducing, old-fashioned coup de theatre
When Rowling herself was spotted in one of the theatre boxes last night, Potter super-fans went wild with delight. Later they gave the show a standing ovation.
And no wonder.
The pared-down production was studded with truly magical magic, from levitating broomsticks to bits of gasp-inducing, old-fashioned coup de theatre. When baddies appear, as baddies must, the whole temperature of the theatre seemed to drop by a spine-chilling several degrees.
There are more witty thrills and spills than anything else in the West End. But amid the torch-blazing shazzam of spells, the pumpkin lanterns and excellent jokes, it was an emotional evening.
The epic play spans two performances, each lasting just over two and a half hours, a big ask for those muggles who are not Potter aficionados. The second part is much darker than the first, and left many wondering who the cursed child really was – in the end it could have been any of them.
The play, the eighth instalment of the Harry Potter series, begins where the last novel ended in 2007. The adult wizard Harry (Jamie Parker, right) now has a day job at the Ministry of Magic
The epic play spans two performances, each lasting just over two and a half hours, a big ask for those muggles who are not Potter aficionados (not like this fan)
The second part is much darker than the first, and left many wondering who the cursed child really was
Much of the Cursed Child action features the children of the wizards who must now take their chances at Hogwarts. Above, fans dressed in costumes to be among the first to see the show
The play, the eighth instalment of the Harry Potter series, begins where the last novel ended in 2007. The adult wizard Harry (Jamie Parker) now has a day job at the Ministry of Magic.
He has a fractious relationship with his son Albus (Sam Clemmett) who is going through his Kevin the Teenager phrase. Albus is so rude to Harry, a man whose wife believes he has the greatest heart of any wizard who ever lived, that parents will gasp. ‘What would you like me to do, Dad?’, Albus cries at one point. ‘Magic myself popular?’
Harry’s old friends Ron Weasley (Paul Thornley) and Hermione Granger (Noma Dumezweni) are also in evidence. There has been a flutter of fuss about Hermione being played by a black actress, but she is excellent in the role, with the brisk authority one would expect of the grown-up she-wizard. And if people objected to that bit of casting, just wait until they see the play’s magnificent Hagrid, a cameo played in a roaring basso profundo by Chris Jarman.
Much of the Cursed Child action features the children of the wizards who must now take their chances at Hogwarts.
Topping a great cast, Anthony Boyle as Scorpius Malfoy, the son of the dreaded Draco, must be singled out for special praise and Hermione Granger (Noma Dumezweni) is excellent in the role
Rowling, who wrote the play with Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, focuses on the father-son relationship, but her key themes are of adolescent alienation and the piercing joy and rewards that loyalty and true friendship bring
Rowling, who wrote the play with Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, focuses on the father-son relationship, but her key themes are of adolescent alienation and the piercing joy and rewards that loyalty and true friendship bring.
As Albus says: ‘People say parenting is the hardest job in the world. They are wrong. Growing up is. They just forgot.’ Never a truer word has been spoken. There are the rough edges that one might expect in such an early preview, but the cast are forgiven for all by fans who were cheering before the first curtain rose. Topping a great cast, Anthony Boyle as Scorpius Malfoy, the son of the dreaded Draco, must be singled out for special praise.
On the night of the first performance on Tuesday, a live owl went rogue and flew across the theatre, ending up in a corner of the dress circle, right next to me. It sat there blinking owlishly and I don’t know who was the more scared, him or me. But in this world where dark magic is on the resurgence, there is much to fear in the shadows.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3634414/A-shazzam-tears-cheers-epic-magic-Jan-Moir-takes-look-Harry-Potter-Cursed-Child.html#ixzz4B9x7pBM6
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