Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Play Review

January 2017, I finally got tickets to see Harry Potter and The Cursed Child. I'd already read the script half a dozen times but I was so excited that I'd finally get to see it as it was meant to be, live on the stage.. In a years time. 

Fast forward to February 28th 2018, I could hardly contain how excited I was. I'm sure everyone in the UK can sympathise with how bad the weather was last week, I was so delayed getting my train that I ended up missing the first half hour of the play. The staff were great and got us in to watch on a screen in the bar so we wouldn't miss anymore, and we took our seats after intermission. This post will contain spoilers but I have deliberately not gone into detail about the plot/villain, only characters and scenes. I hope you enjoy!

From reading the script I thought that I knew my favourite character would be Scorpius, coming out of the play I don't think I could choose between him and Albus. Albus, played by Theo Ancient at the time, was incredible and I don't think I was prepared for how absolutely stunning his performance would be (he moved me to tears a couple of times). Scorpius, played by Henry Rundle, was definitely the Scorpius I had in my head and while he was played by the under study, the chemistry between the actors was still there and made for a really good show. 

Draco, Harry and Ron were other roles that were very well acted and Harry especially seemed so true to the original character character that it was a little surreal to watch. Draco and Ron had the best lines, when Scorpius didn't anyway, so it made the play a lot of fun. I find with theatre the dialogue is always made to be a little corny, but the characters held onto a lot of emotion in their scenes too. Draco's ponytail was a real mood too, whoever chose that costume detail -thank you. 

Hermione and Ginny were problematic for me. I've never really liked Ginny, especially not in the movies, and her portrays on stage didn't make me like her anymore. Though since I continuously dislike Ginny, I think this means the acting was very authentic so that's probably not a negative point after all. Hermione seemed very cold on stage, she was all business and in 'alternate Hogwarts' - kind of a spoiler but I won't tell you how 'alternate Hogwarts' happens so also not a spoiler, she was a really cold and cruel teacher, thinking Snape beating children with books -Hermione was that, not cool. 

I said this when I read the script so I wasn't expecting him to pop up suddenly but, WHERE IS TEDDY LUPIN? For a boy who was said to have basically moved in with Harry, he's absent the entire four years covered in this play. The Cursed Child links back to the original seven quite a lot, so it was strange that they skipped over this plot point. 

Let's talk about 'alternate Hogwarts' or one of them anyway. Part 2 opens in 'dark Hogwarts', everything is black, the students and teachers are wearing body armour and boots and have amazing swishy cloaks, they come onto the stage in formation and stomp around the place to some really intense music. To be blunt, it was very sexy and it was probably my favourite scene and very Deathly Hallows part 2 in terms of aesthetic.

The aesthetic, production team, special effects were all flawless throughout the play. Even things involving wires, I didn't see said wires until after something had been levitated, which doesn't usually happen. There was pyrotechnics used too for the more aggressive spells, which was a lot of fun, and characters being levitated and thrown about the place, again a lot of fun. Also, I want a job in the ensemble so I can walk on the stage, pick up a chair for a scene change and dramatically swish my cape as I exit. 

The plot overall was not my favourite thing but as always with me, good characters can drive a bad plot into a mostly picturesque sunset. I could have watched a whole play where the only plot points were Albus' problematic relationship with Harry, throw in some school scenes and a few more deep and emotional chats in the common room, perfection. 

The whole Rose and Scorpius thing was not great, it came across as very forced and especially towards the end when we've sat through 4+ hours of longing looks between the boys, it seems so ridiculous. This is set in fourth year, so myself and Liv (The Fiction Life) agreed that Albus and Scorpius would probably confess their love for each other around sixth year -so if we could get a Cursed Child part 3 that would be great. 

The villain in this story is again not great. The backstory is a little farfetched and while I appreciate that they were trying to tie in the original seven -I think in this case they could have written some new material. I wouldn't have been mad about additions to the dark side of the Harry potter universe because I love a good villain, but The Cursed Child was definitely lacking in one. 

Overall this was an amazing experience and I 100% want to go and see the play again (probably in a years time when I manage to get more tickets). There are a lot of parallels with the original books,  which makes this familiar in the best way, but I do wish there'd been more additions. Albus and Scorpius are almost completely new and they're now two of my favourite characters in the whole franchise. Some risks were taken but I think I'd like to have seen more, and I'd definitely like another seven books of Albus and Scorpius adventures please, thank you. Let me know what you thought, I've seen some mixed reviews so I'd like to know what we agree/disagree on.

Thanks for reading!