Thinking about seeing the new, shorter Harry Potter? Here’s our critic’s review

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Advertisement

This was published 1 year ago

Thinking about seeing the new, shorter Harry Potter? Here’s our critic’s review

By Cameron Woodhead

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ★★★★
Princess Theatre, from May 19

The new version of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has finally opened in Melbourne. It condenses into a single sitting an enthralling theatre epic originally staged in two parts over close to six hours, and that’s good news for anyone who was put off from seeing the play due its running time or the expense.

The final battle in the reimagined Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

The final battle in the reimagined Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.Credit: Michelle Grace Hunder

You can now board the Hogwarts Express and whiz through the wizarding world in one go, and you won’t miss any of the spectacle. Almost all the jaw-dropping special effects have been retained – gravity-defying magic duels, chilling Dementors floating overhead, candy that makes steam come out of its chewer’s ears – and it remains a must-see, especially for younger Harry Potter fans.

In other respects, the abridged version is not an improvement on the fuller one, and those lucky enough to have been to Cursed Child in its original form will find little reason to see it again.

Keeping all the stage magic comes at the expense of some of the histrionic sorcery that made it such a spellbinder. One of the things that stood out about the two-parter was the level of nuance in its character development. Editing out so much dialogue loses emotional depth and diminishes the enjoyment of discovering how Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione, and even Draco Malfoy turned out as middle-aged adults struggling to parent their own children.

Michael Bani as The Sorting Hat, with Ben Walter as Albus Potter in the reimagined Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Michael Bani as The Sorting Hat, with Ben Walter as Albus Potter in the reimagined Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.Credit: Michelle Grace Hunder

It also unbalances the judicious blend of drama and magic show. Against a more elaborate and shaded portrayal of the story, the spectacle never overwhelmed either the emotions or the challenges shared by muggles and magical folk alike.

And strangely enough, the shorter version feels longer. Time obeys different laws in the theatre, and an utterly footsure dramatic pace yields, in this frenetic abridgement, to an expositional style as careening and uncertain as a first-year at Hogwarts learning to fly a broomstick.

Still, the cast has always been marvellous in the Australian production, and it’s astonishing how much of the show’s heart they manage to preserve despite the breakneck speed and sparser dialogue.

Advertisement

As Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, Ben Walter and Nyx Calder keep the buddy story between two bullied teens alive, funny and true. The adolescent vulnerability (and volatility) they bring to the roles are a pleasure to watch, even if this version resorts to needless dredging up of homoerotic subtext rather than the more tentative, refined and ambiguous suggestion in the original.

Gareth Reeves and Lucy Goleby as a married Harry and Ginny Potter somehow keep an impression of their characters’ deep bond, and David Ross Paterson as Snape remains a snaky delight.

Some of the supporting cast are more short-changed by the edits: the brilliant and amusing contrast between Paula Arundell’s Hermione and Michael Whalley’s Ron is neatly sketched but loses the detail that made it so endearing.

And one notable deficiency, narrative-wise, is the lack of foregrounding to Delphi Diggory (Jessica Vickers), companion to Albus and Scorpius. It’s hard to generate an emotional reaction to the significant plot twist she plays a part in, and the flip side of the orphan story she represents, when she barely appears in the play’s first half.

Loading

Even in the hands of actors as skilled as these, the emotional shorthand can descend into heavy-handed sentiment. That’s something to which Americans are less averse than Australians tend to be, and I suspect the condensed Cursed Child might fare better on Broadway than in Melbourne.

That isn’t to say I’d rather see it in New York. This is probably as good an abbreviation of the play as you’ll get anywhere in the world. It’s a spectacular stage rollercoaster into the Potter universe, and audiences who don’t have the extended version as a mental reference point for comparison should have a fabulous time.

A cultural guide to going out and loving your city. Sign up to our Culture Fix newsletter here.

Most Viewed in Culture

Loading