cursedPalace Theatre, on now

Nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts and the defeat of Voldemort, Harry must face his greatest challenge yet in parenthood. As a new evil rises from the shadows, the fate of the world once again rests on the shoulders of a Potter, as new faces and old come together to right wrongs and battle evil.

It’s difficult to discuss the story of Cursed Child in even the vaguest terms without giving spoilers. #Keepthesecrets, the little badges handed out at the end of Part One told us, and with good reason. This is a story that scales some remarkable highs as well as one or two more hackneyed back alleys, but all in all, left me feeling mostly satisfied.

All that being said, let us talk instead of the characters. The old gang are of course mostly here (with some notable absences) and are played (almost) without exception absolutely perfectly. From Harry’s continued resentment at the responsibilities life foists upon him, and tendency towards hot headed moments of temper, to Hermione’s calm, logical intelligence driven by ambition, and Draco’s arrogance undermined by occasional hints of vulnerability and uncertainty, the cast revel in parts clearly written by people who understand Rowling’s work and the characters that populate it. Glaring by exception in this regard is Ron – in the books courageous and possessed of his own particular brand of cleverness and loyalty, here those elements are almost entirely lost, as instead his clumsiness and tendency towards comical bungling are turned up to 11. Here, Ron is a comic relief character and whereas that character is played well, it does certain disservice to the character we know and love – certainly to the character who captured the heart of Hermione. He isn’t the only Weasley getting the short end of the stick either – Ginny, when she appears, mostly gets very little to actually do. There are occasional glimpses of Molly in the fiery temperament and devotion of Harry’s wife, but mostly she is relegated to the backdrop of proceedings, which is a shame.

However, the real meat here is in the new characters. Albus Sebverus – Harry’s youngest son, is presented as a boy very much living under the shadow of his famous father’s name and achievements, and resentful of both. His older brother – here mostly a background noise – is all the things we saw James to be in Snape’s Pensieve memories of him: brash, arrogant and full of the exuberance of youth, and serves as a useful contrast to Albus’ quiet brooding and isolation. Scorpius, Draco’s son, is possessed of a slightly manic energy which belies his unpopularity and general loneliness. The friendship which binds these two outsiders is at once utterly believable and completely compelling, both in the context of the story itself and also in the wider context of their respective father’s pasts.

Potter castOther characters, new and old, are peppered throughout the play, but it is these few who form the core underpinning it. The theme of fathers and their children runs strong throughout (as the title may suggest) and it is in this, and the conflicts that arise from it, that the story runs at its strongest. The first part is a tour de force, which literally had me open mouthed as the curtain fell at the end. The second part, while still incredibly entertaining, drops a little of that originality and spark as it drops into a familiar narrative which somewhat undermines the work done to that point. That’s not to say that it’s bad, but to me it became just a bit less interesting when it stopped working on the ideas of the first half and switched to a more straightforward and traditional ‘heroes and villains’ narrative in the second. The ending, while it manages to be heart wrenching and tear-jerking, does so more by playing on what we as an audience know of the universe already rather than by anything new that it does.

However, what really stands out in this play is the effects, and there are plenty of them. From magical spells sparking and lashing across the stage from wands, to polyjuice transformations right before your eyes and a phone box that has to be witnessed to be believed, the practical effects and prop masters involved in this deserve all the praise that they get and some. It’s a wonderful visual spectacle, and it helps the audience to stay invested in the fantastical nature of the storyline with its authenticity.

Ultimately, this doesn’t feel like an eighth entry in the Harry Potter canon to me. It’s more like a well-crafted and lovingly delivered piece of fan fiction. The characters are (mostly) nailed, but the story stumbles a little as it reaches its climax, displaying a lack of confidence that reveals the work of a fan trying to fit established characters into a new narrative rather than a continuation of the narrative from the creator of those characters. It’s utterly stunning to watch and great fun to spend another few hours in this magical world, but it falls just short of the greatness of the stories that came before it.

Verdict: Visually amazing, and with a fabulous set of actors to boot, the story means that this feels like an author-endorsed love letter to the series rather than a true continuation. Fans of the franchise will find much to love here, while those less keen will likely see nothing that changes their mind. 8/10

Greg D. Smith

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