Press. Associated
Press.
London is under
Harry Potter's spell once more — and J.K. Rowling hopes the rest of the world
will eventually follow. The stage play "Harry Potter and the Cursed
Child" had its gala opening Saturday in London's West End and is already
the theater event of the year.
Rowling joined
director John Tiffany, playwright Jack Thorne and the cast onstage to receive a
raucous standing ovation at the end of the two-part show at London's Palace
Theatre, where it's scheduled to run at least until December 2017.
If the boy
wizard's creator has her way, that will only be the beginning. "I'd like
as many Potter fans to see it as possible," Rowling said on the red carpet
before the show, as fans cheered and poked camera phones over crowd barriers in
hope of getting a picture.
There's already
talk of a Broadway run, and Rowling said: "I'd like it to go wider than
that." Co-producer Sonia Friedman said she had big hopes for the show,
which has been more than two years in the making.
"Hopefully
many countries at some point will get to see it," Friedman said. "But
it's a big piece of theater, it's a big endeavor. You can't just turn this
around overnight."
The play has
been in previews at the theater for almost eight weeks, but few details of the
plot have leaked (though those seeking spoilers online will find them). People
leaving the show are handed buttons urging them to #keepthesecrets — and most
have complied.
Tiffany said
spilling the play's secrets was "like unwrapping children's Christmas
presents for them in November, in front of their eyes. And why would anyone
want to do that?"
Rowling said
fans have "been amazing, they've been incredible."
"It is the
most extraordinary fandom, so I'm kind of not surprised, because they didn't
want to spoil it for each other," she said. "But I am so happy we got
here without ruining everything." The script of the play is being
published Sunday, with a global print run in the millions, so future audiences
will have more opportunities to know the plot in advance if they choose.
Without entering
spoiler territory, it's safe to say that the play has much to make fans
rejoice. This is both an eighth instalment in the Potter saga worthy of
Rowling's seven novels, and a stage spectacle to delight even the uninitiated.
The script — written by Thorne from a story by Rowling, Thorne and Tiffany —
picks up 19 years after the end of the final novel, "Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows."
Harry — the
orphaned boy whose destiny was to save the wizarding world — is now an
overworked civil servant at the Ministry of Magic, feeling the approach of
middle age. His younger son, Albus Severus, is a reluctant pupil at Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, struggling with the burden of his family's
fame.
Fans who know
the saga inside out are likely to appreciate the teeming detail of the play,
which runs for five hours over two parts. It captures Rowling's richly textured
magical world, with its byzantine mythology, complex history and array of
fantastical creatures.
The plot is a
rollicking adventure in which Albus' attempt to right a wrong goes awry. But it
also has adult things to say about loss and grief, and about the complexities
of friendship and family love.
The cast is
anchored by the adult trio of Jamie Parker as Harry, Noma Dumezweni as Hermione
Granger and Paul Thornley as Ron Weasley. There's also a touching performance
from Sam Clemmett as Albus, and an engaging, career-making turn from Anthony
Boyle as Scorpius Malfoy, the surprising son of Harry's childhood enemy Draco
Malfoy.
The actors draw
both laughter and tears from audience members. But it's the work of the
production crew that elicits gasps, with illusions that appear simultaneously
simple and inexplicable.
Characters
levitate, transform and disappear, in magic that feels hand-crafted rather than
high-tech, although a great deal of technical expertise has gone into it.
Buoyed by the
work of movement director Steven Hoggett and composer Imogen Heap, the show
captures the warm spirit of the world Rowling has created — one that has moved
from page to screen to stage with its magic intact. Rowling — who wore golden
winged shoes, reminiscent of the golden snitch she created for the magical game
quidditch — said she hoped the show would attract "people who have never
been to the theater before."
"I would be
so proud to think that kids from my kind of background, who didn't come from
particularly theatergoing families, learn what theater is all about through
this show," Rowling said. "That would be an incredible thing."
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