Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre

Opening at the Palace Theatre in July this year, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child offers fans a chance to revisit their favourite characters 19 years after they left Harry, Ron and Hermione.

This is a spectacular piece of theatre that is not to be missed (although you’ll be hard pushed to get tickets now). For those who have grown up reading the books and watching the films, it’s a wonderful chance to find out what has been happening in the wizarding world since the Battle of Hogwarts – and an absolute treat to see the beloved characters performed so faithfully.

The Cursed Child will take you through a roller coaster of emotions: it will make you laugh, sob manically, and it will have you on the edge of your seat the whole time. The storyline itself, however, is slightly contrived and would probably struggle in another format – there have already been mumblings about this from those who have read the script since its release last month. At times it felt like a rehashing of an existing plot line just with new characters and additional sub-plots. Nonetheless, it works superbly well on stage. It allowed the creative team to prove exactly what can be achieved in modern theatre and has set a precedence for new and future productions. Particularly with Jamie Harrison’s illusions, which are a tour de force that will have audiences believing that magic is real.

Through Harry’s turbulent relationship with his son it’s possible to see his weaknesses that demonstrate he was, and still is, a normal person struggling with normal problems, and not just the hero he became. Overall there is a lot more focus on relationships between characters than we’ve previously seen in the books, such as the relationship between Albus and Scorpius and then with their respective fathers, which allows the audience to learn more about characters we thought we knew so thoroughly before.

Sam Clemmett (Albus) and Anthony Boyle (Scorpius) give stellar performances throughout, whereas Noma Dumezweni is the Hermione that we deserved – no offense to Emma Watson. Die-hard fans and newcomers certainly won’t forget Jamie Parker’s (Harry), Paul Thornley’s (Ron) and Alex Price’s (Draco) acting efforts either.

Overall, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a truly spectacular and magical production: please remember to #keepthesecrets so other audiences can experience it for themselves. 

Jackaby Barsby

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is at the Palace Theatre from 7^th June 2016 until 10^th December 2017, for further information or to book visit here.

Watch JK Rowling go backstage and talk with John Tiffany (director) and Jack Thorne (playwright) about the rehearsal process here: