Review - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Reimagined

★★★★★

Spellbinding spectacular Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has brought magic and adventure back to the Princess Theatre with the newly reopened one-night version – Potterheads and theatre fans alike will marvel in the unforgettable technical special effects and surprises the show has in store.

We return to the magical world of Harry Potter and Hogwarts, where The Boy Who Lived becomes the Man who does paperwork at the Ministry of Magic and has three kids – just like those of us who grew up inhaling the books and gasping at the films, our brave trio have grown up and are facing their next big challenge – how to raise teenagers.

The fast-paced show follows Albus Potter (Ben Walter) and Scorpius Malfoy (Nyx Calder), who bring to light the kind of challenges and youthful exuberance Harry, Ron and Hermione never got to have, coupled with the struggles of friendship, growing up and the weight of the family legacy. An emotional rollercoaster packed full of pain, humour, discovery, and challenges, Walter and Calder command the audience and show with extraordinary relatability, warmth, and heart.

Having seen the two-part version on the West End in London, I was so excited and intrigued to see what the new version of the show would look like – the show is still a magical adventure and doesn’t feel like it’s missing anything.  By condensing the show into its strongest and fastest paced format, the show becomes more accessible to families, audience members who can’t find two nights to visit the theatre, or for those who found the price prohibitive – this sleek new version is worth running full steam ahead at the gap between platform 9 and 10, to get onboard the Hogwarts Express.

For those less familiar with the Harry Potter canon (because apparently there are still Muggles about), you’ll still be able to follow the show – a lot of the cuts in the show were to some of the background and flashback sequences – but every bit of the impressive technology, grand set and all of the magic tricks still remain, and have gotten even bigger – audiences were still gasping and craning their necks, trying to work out how it all was happening. The child in you, who marvelled at magic, will still find every spell and every moment as mystifying and enchanting as we all imagined while waiting for our owls to arrive with our Hogwarts letter.

Performances by Gareth Reeves as Harry, Lucy Goleby as Ginny and Michael Whalley as Ron capture all the energy and the characteristics of their younger counterparts, and Paula Arundell as Hermione brings to life the bad ass, assertive, confident witch we know and love – it’s exactly as you would imagine them all grown up. The entire cast all perform beautifully, but special mentions also go to Hannah Fredericksen as Moaning Myrtle, capturing everything from her voice to her movements, to her cheekiness, and Katie-Jean Harding as the Trolley Witch, and Lachlan Woods as Draco Malfoy all grown up, pairing arrogance and confidence with the deep love of his child, and an emotional depth in understanding his legacy, his struggles and his losses.

The show is ever moving and feels extremely physical and almost immersive in nature, as magical and moving as the Hogwarts staircases, as each scene flows into the next perfectly with the flounce of a wizard’s robe. The theatre pulsates with energy of the show, of the audience, and of the incredible technology driving the magic.  Christine Jones’ set design manages to capture the magic and grandeur of Hogwarts and seamlessly transform it into Platform 9 ¾, the Ministry of Magic, the Forbidden Forest and more. Illusions and magic, led by Jamie Harrison, are flawlessly paired with lighting by Neil Austin and sound by Gareth Fry, and expertly delivered by the Australian production company.

The biggest impact in the show is the incredible way the magic comes to life – when you invest in spectacular tech, the results are truly magical – with the use of fire, water, aerials, puppetry, lighting and more bring to life special effects one can only dream of in the theatre, with flying dementors coming all the way out into the audience, broomsticks flying, wizarding duels carried out, the use of Floo powder – no detail has been forgotten, and no audience member will forget this magic.

The music has been condensed down into the best bits (aside from one genuine refrain of Imogen Heap’s own song ‘Hide and Seek’ still snuck into the show, which doesn’t quite fit the magical world’s score), and every element of the theatre has been decked out like you’ve entered Hogwarts – the opening night celebrations saw a trolley witch greet us with sweets, smoking mocktails and an impressive fire installation completed the incredible experience.

All board this magical adventure, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is now open again at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne.

For more information and tickets: https://www.harrypottertheplay.com/au/

Photo credit: Michelle Grace Hunder

This review first appeared on Theatre People at https://www.theatrepeople.com.au/harry-potter-cursed-child-reimagined/ on 23 May 2022.