Jamie Ballard as Harry Potter and Joe Idris-Roberts as Albus Potter (Photo credit: Manuel Harlan)
The Boy Wizard’s patronus continues to shine bright in the West End
Performance Date: 19 August 2018
Venue: Palace Theatre, London
As Harry Potter and the Cursed Child enters its third year in the West End, the ripple of excitement and anticipation is audible as the audience gathers outside the Palace Theatre, London. Harry Potter’s popularity has endured over the years, with fans worldwide devouring the Cursed Child script book, the release of which coinciding with the opening of the play in the summer of 2016. Many have been waiting over a year to see it, making it still one of the hottest tickets in town.
Written as a collaboration between J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, the Cursed Child is the eighth instalment of the wildly popular series. The play already boasts several records including scooping an unprecedented nine Olivier Awards in 2017. Such is the success of the play that the core of the original cast have taken it across the Atlantic to Broadway where it opened at the Lyric Theatre on 22 April 2018 to rave reviews. The Cursed Child’s popularity across the pond has been further personified by the six Tonys it received in 2018, including the coveted Best Play award.
Much mystery and intrigue shrouds the show and it is testament to the “keep the secrets” movement that no spoilers have been doing the rounds and that the plot is still a closely guarded secret for those who are unfamiliar with the eighth story of the iconic boy wizard.
Set seventeen years after the end of last book the Cursed Child brings us back into the orbit of Harry, Ron and Hermione exactly where we left them at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, grown-up with children of their own.
The plot is largely centred on Harry and Ginny’s second son Albus (Joe Idris-Roberts) who, unlike his famous father is an awkward misfit with no aptitude for magic. About to begin his Hogwarts career Albus harbours a growing resentment towards his famous father and struggles with a crippling fear of the Sorting Hat placing him in Slytherin House.
Meanwhile, for Harry (Jamie Ballard), the Boy Who Lived is facing (and failing at) his biggest challenge to date – fatherhood.
The gulf between father and son is further compounded by Albus forging a strong and deep friendship with Scorpius Malfoy (Jonathan Case), the son of Harry’s boyhood nemesis Draco, played sublimely by James Howard). The latter, still a thorn in the side of the Weasleys and Potters, is still looked at with suspicion and forced to frequently defend the parentage of his only son. It is through these ‘daddy issues’ Albus and Scorpius bond much to the indignation of their fathers.
The Cursed Child is clever and fully entwined with the seven stories that came before it, but it also works on its own merit. For staunch Potter fans the plot of the Cursed Child, bends time, memories and the conscious state of being, bringing a level of nostalgia to the new story which at times is hugely poignant. Through the magic, trickery and familiarity of the much-loved characters, this is a story of a teenage boy trying to find his own identity, in the shadow of his infamous father.
Like the original stories, the themes of bravery, friendship, internalised pain and coming of age are prevalent in the Cursed Child. To delve further into the plot would betray too many spoilers subsequently defying the staunchly revered “keep the secrets” movement.
The character development of the Cursed Child is curious and with the plot labouring on the feelings and journey of the male characters, with the women of the Harry Potter universe relegated to bit parts that facilitate the arc of the play. It is true that one of the main themes is the relationship between Harry and Albus, but Ginny (Susie Trayling), Hermione (Franc Ashman) and her young daughter Rose (played by understudy Rosemary Annabella Nkrumah) barely get a look in. This is arguably at the detriment to the play as Ashman in particular is a fine actress and plays the adult Hermione with authority and class.
With many of the regular cast absent this particular performance of the Cursed Child was a chance for the understudies and covers to shine. Danny Dalton stepped into the part of Ron seamlessly, bringing a warmth and infectious mischief to the beloved Weasley. Delphi Diggory, brought to life by April Hughes, does justice to the character in the absence of Eve Ponsonby. However, in the battle of the understudies and covers the stand out performance goes to Sinead Sharkey as everyone’s favourite squeaky voiced ghost, Moaning Myrtle. Sharkey’s performance, although short, is a scene stealer.
The Cursed Child is a lengthy affair played out over five hours and across two parts. Could the running time be chopped? Maybe, but it works. It works because it’s magic. There was a risk that transferring such a concept that is so heavily reliant on CGI may be lost on stage, but the risk pays off in abundance. Through John Tiffany’s direction and movement by Steven Hoggett the set designed by Christine Jones comes to life. Levitation; transfiguration and apparition is delivered seamlessly with the transitions depicting the magic executed so smoothly that any behind the scenes trickery is impossible to detect.
It is difficult not to be in awe as the cast take their well-deserved curtain call and standing ovation. The boy wizard has made a triumphant transition to the stage, with old and young audiences alike lapping up the story. With tickets still as hard to get hold of as the golden snitch itself, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will be a stalwart of the West End for years to come, bringing delight to not only the original fans of the series but to a whole new generation.
