Reviews are in for the two-part
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child plays in London, and they are all riddled with spoilers (so much for keeping the secrets, that's pretty much moot at this point).
For those interested in reading through the reviews, feel free to do so, though do note that they are very heavy with plot spoilers. Feel free to come back to this post and read the reviews after having read the
Cursed Child script book, out this weekend. Reviews from many critics across the U.S. and UK can be read here.
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It’s the friendship of two bullied boys bound together, and it’s a beautiful, tender thing. The script by Jack Thorne (“Skins,” “Shameless”) recognizes that rejection breeds resentment, and outsiders stew into outcasts. No one’s born a villain, nor sees themselves as such, and where the books gave us stock baddies, “Cursed Child” fleshes them out. Albus and Scorpius only ever try to make good, but their efforts tend to lead to bad.
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Just as Rowling’s novels captured some of the challenges and joys of growing up, this story is about the bond between parents and their children—appropriate, perhaps, now that the novels’ original readers are themselves becoming parents.
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If Thorne has added yet another ingredient to an already complicated brew it is that of post-Freudian guilt: much of the story revolves around the adult Harry’s angst at his past actions and Albus’s need to prevail over his father. But, just as things start to get a bit heavy, Thorne adds a touch of leavening humour and reminds us that a smile is as good as a myth.
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What you would make of it all if you didn't know anything about Harry Potter, I can't quite imagine. But I think you would find moments that simply take your breath away; one, which concludes the first play, is simultaneously so beautiful and so terrifying that it would be a crime to spoil.
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Like the novels that preceded it, “The Cursed Child” is stuffed with arcana-filled plots that defy diagrams and baldly wrought sentimental life lessons, along with anguished dives into the earnest, tortured solipsism of adolescence. By rights, such a combination should try the patience of any grown-up. But like Ms. Rowling’s books, the play vanquishes resistance.
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And, of course, it's thrilling to see Harry, Ron and Hermione's grown-up lives. It's like meeting up with old friends – they're familiar yet different. The tight trio have, thankfully, remained a tight trio and share plenty of in-jokes about scars, red hair and know-it-alls which are funny and full of nostalgia. Jamie Parker is just as I imagined Harry from the books – a bit angsty, serious and good-hearted.
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The grown Harry (a pensive but robust Jamie Parker) makes mistakes, as his wife, the former Ginny Weasley (Poppy Miller, subtle and potent) and Albus remind him. The boy who lived is now also a man with a keen sense of survivor's guilt. But he has the benefit of devoted friends; even Draco becomes an ally, though Alex Price's dry performance ensures he's never too cuddly for credibility.
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Part One in particular seems a bit overstuffed – with some lengthy exchanges and a few wholly unnecessary scenes that could be cut altogether. The production needs more moments to let the actors take a breath and play their roles rather than speeding through pages of script faster than Harry on his Firebolt. “You talk too much,” one character declares, but the same could be said for nearly everybody.
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is no cynical attempt to cash in on one of the most successful literary franchises of all time. It has real integrity and, crucially, could prove to be one of the most influential and important theatre works of the century, introducing whole new generations of people to the joys of theatre.
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If anything, the double bill feels as if it might even have been better longer. That would allow room for Paul Thornley’s Ron to be more than just a continual cut-up and, in particular, the gifted Dumezweni to move beyond the rigidly conceived confines of a tartly spoken, no-nonsense Hermione: the part seems to be missing a scene that may have been truncated along the way.
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Another problem is that the reveal of the true villain is absurdly camp—through no fault of the actor concerned. Yet to true Potter fans, none of this is going to matter.
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Surprisingly, it turns out that the medium of theater is a better fit for the material than film, because in a theater magic tricks really look, well, magical. No one speculates with awe these days over how filmmakers can make a boy fly on a broom, or a dementor float, or one character transform into someone else on the screen because the answer is always pretty much VFX.
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When we reach part two, things become a lot darker; where part one was a jubilant ride through four years at Hogwarts, starting off at platform nine and three-quarters, the second part is an emotional rollercoaster that sees the story progress through what will no doubt be quite a controversial storyline.
Pre-order the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child script book hardcover on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and WBShop now. 
'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child's first reviews now online (spoiler-free) 
