Julia Nightingale, Aidan Close, Emmet Smith (Photo by Matthew Murphy)
Reviewed by Dana Martin
Pantages Theater
Through June 22nd
RECOMMENDED
“Sometimes being a kid can be really lonely, even in the wizarding world.”
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a play by Jack Thorne based on an original story by Thorne, J.K. Rowling and John Tiffany, is an epic stage production about parents, kids and the messiness of growing up. The national tour, now playing at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood, is rich in magic but the story lacks substance — and those unfamiliar with the series will find themselves completely bewildered.
It’s been nineteen years since Harry Potter (John Skelley) and Dumbledore’s army defeated Voldemort. Harry, now a middle-aged dad, has a new problem to navigate: parenthood. He and his wife Ginny (Trish Lindstrom) now have 3 children. Their second son, Albus Severus Potter (Emmet Smith), is headed off to Hogwarts for the first time. Albus forges a wholly new path, diverging from his parent’s house (he’s sorted into Slytherin) and Harry’s legacy as The Boy Who Lived. He befriends Scorpius Malfoy (Aidan Close), son of Harry’s foe, Draco Malfoy (Benjamin Thys), on Hogwarts Express and the two become fast friends.
While at Hogwarts, both Albus and Scorpius struggle to fit in; Albus lives in the shadow of his father’s fame and Scorpius contends with constant rumors that he’s actually Voldemort’s offspring. When Albus overhears Harry refusing to use an illegal time-turner to go back in time to save Cedric Diggory (Caleb Hafen) from being murdered by Voldemort, Albus and Scorpius take matters into their own hands: They team up with Cedric’s cousin Delphi Diggory (Julia Nightingale), disguise themselves with Polyjuice Potion, and steal a time-turner from Hermoine (Ebony Blake), the current Minister for Magic.
The trio go back in time and sabotage Cedric’s win only to discover that they’ve inadvertently disrupted a time-continuum, creating a timeline in which Harry is dead, Voldemort has prevailed and the Ministry of Magic is a dictatorial regime. The time-turner fiasco causes a whole lot of drama and gets the boys, along with the entire wizarding world, into a whole mess of trouble. Harry, in an effort to save the boys, disguises himself as none other than the Dark Lord in the hope that peace will once again prevail.
Cursed Child counts on a nostalgic audience already well-versed in the finer details of the wizarding world, as most of the plot contains references to the original series. Good fun for fans, confusing and convoluted for Hogwarts newcomers. But lovers of the series can look beyond the story’s shortcomings and thoroughly enjoy the production’s magic and spectacle. Besides, the story itself takes a backseat to the production’s design elements: there were some wild and absolutely magical special effects throughout. Director John Tiffany pulls off a truly epic evening of theater and Jamie Harrison’s illusions and magic are incredible. Neil Austin’s lighting design is a wonderous spectacle. Christine Jones’s set is extremely impressive and Katrina Lindsay’s costumes are serviceable. Original music by Imogen Heap is equal parts whimsical and foreboding.
The plot is contrived to give stage time to several series favorites: Professor McGonagall (Katherine Leask), Snape (Larry Yando), Umbridge (Leask), Dumbledore (Yando), Moaning Myrtle (Mackenzie Lesser-Roy), the Sorting Hat (Chadd Alexander), and even a few dementors make cameos thanks to the time-turner plot device. The story moves at a breakneck speed and therefore the performances are broad and lack nuance; the actors blast through the play — running, shouting and exerting all their energy in order to fill the epic scale of production. Nevertheless, the ensemble moves very well thanks to movement director Steven Hoggett’s attention to mystery, revelation and well-placed robe flicks.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a story about parents and kids and how messy and lonely growing up can be. “Harry, there is never a perfect answer in this messy, emotional world.” Dumbledore says to a conflicted Harry, “Perfection is beyond the reach of humankind, beyond the reach of magic.”
Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Tues.-Thurs. 7:30 pm, Fri., 8 pm, Sat, 2 & 8 pm, Sun., 1 & 7 pm; thru June 22nd. www.hollywoodpantages.com Running time: approximately two hours and 50 minutes with an intermission.
