Harry Potter and The Cursed Child Play is a must-see production for fans of the wizarding world! From the play’s eight Olivier-Award winning cast to its stunning special effects, it has taken the world by storm. Be sure to grab your copy of this wonderful book version, which gives a more in-depth look into Harry’s continued journey for true freedom from his past, and what role his son Albus will play in that mission. Written by Jack Thorne, with J.K Rowlings’ blessing, and John Tiffany as director – this new episode releases readers even further into the magical realm. So don’t miss out! Get your tickets now.
Harry Potter & The Cursed Child
There has been a Harry Potter stage play in the works for over a year, and in December 2013, it was announced that it would be brought to the stage in 2016. It was announced at the time that the play would “explore the hitherto undisclosed story of Harry’s early years as an orphan and outcast,” words written by the play’s author, J. K. Rowling. The following year, in May, Rowling started assembling the project’s creative team.
It was announced on June 26, 2015, that the world premiere would take place in the middle of 2016 at London’s Palace Theatre. The announcement came on the eighteenth anniversary of the release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first book in the series, which came out on June 26, 1997.
Rowling claimed that the play will not be a prequel when she first announced the project. Rowling said, “I am convinced that when people see the play they will agree that it is the sole fitting medium for the story,” in response to questions about why a play rather than a new novel was chosen. Rowling reassured theatregoers that the play will have an original tale and not a rehash of old material. The play was divided into two sections, which Rowling revealed on September 24th, 2015. The segments should be watched on the same day or back-to-back over the course of two nights.
The plays, which was debut in July 2016 at London’s Palace Theatre, were announced on October 23, 2015, and would be set nineteen years after the end of the final novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The plays mostly focus on Harry Potter (now the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement) and his younger son, Albus Severus Potter.
Act One
In the opening scene, which takes place in 2017 at the epilogue of Deathly Hallows, Harry and Ginny Potter send their younger son, Albus Severus, on the Hogwarts Express to start his first year at Hogwarts. Harry is the Head of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic, while Ginny edits the sports section of The Daily Prophet. Rose Weasley is being sent on the train by her parents, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ron currently works at Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley with his older brother, George, while Hermione is Minister for Magic. As Albus takes his first ride on the Hogwarts Express, he unexpectedly bonds with Scorpius Malfoy, the son of Harry‘s archenemy Draco and his wife Astoria (née Greengrass). Scorpius, unlike his father, is a nerd and a gentleman. Albus gets sorted into Slytherin with Scorpius, shocking the school because Potters are usually assigned to Gryffindor.
Over the following few years, pupils at Hogwarts will pick on both boys because of rumours that they are the sons of Lord Voldemort and because of Albus’s perceived failure to live up to his parents’ expectations. Then, a devastating illness claims Astoria’s life. With Albus dealing with his father’s shadow and Harry unsure of how to handle his son’s issues, the two gradually grow apart. Like himself, Albus loses touch with his former best friend Rose after getting involved with Scorpius. Albus and his father fall into an argument the summer before his fourth year after Albus receives a baby blanket and a love potion from Ron. The two of them get into it, and Albus drops the potion all over the blanket while Harry angrily remarks that sometimes he wishes Albus was not his son.
To go back in time and alter the course of history, Harry acquires a prototype of a more advanced version of the Time-Turner. At the same time, Harry’s scar begins to hurt again, raising his fears that Voldemort has returned. An elderly Amos Diggory, who is being looked after by his niece Delphi, approaches Harry and begs him to use the Time-Turner to stop his son Cedric from dying. Albus is motivated to help the Diggorys after overhearing Harry’s refusal to do so and enlisting Scorpius’s support. The trio uses Polyjuice Potion to disguise themselves before stealing the Time-Turner from Hermione’s office in the Ministry of Magic after escaping the Hogwarts Express to see Amos.
Act Two
The lads use the Time-Turner to go back to the first Triwizard Competition challenge in 1994, when they learn that Cedric’s death was caused by his and Harry’s victory in the tournament. To foil Cedric’s plans and prevent his victory, the two put on Durmstrang student disguises. Hermione becomes sceptical of Durmstrang student Viktor Krum because to the disguises and decides to attend the Yule Ball with Ron instead. Ron and Hermione never get married because he never feels the jealousy that is so important to their relationship. Instead, Ron falls for Padma Patil at the Ball, and Hermione ends up teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts despite being a bitter, resentful, and unhappy person. The Sorting Hat has spoken, and Albus has been sorted into Gryffindor.
Meanwhile, Harry is apprehensive that the wizard may return, and he begins to have nightmares about Voldemort. Bane, a centaur, informs Harry that Albus is surrounded by a “black cloud.” Harry tries to persuade Headmistress Minerva McGonagall to use the Marauder’s Map to keep an eye on Albus after becoming convinced that Scorpius poses a threat to him.
After Albus obtains Harry’s old Invisibility Cloak from Albus’s older brother James Sirius, the two pals reunite. Through discussion with Draco and Ginny, Harry is eventually convinced to back down. While this is going on, Albus and Scorpius try to use the Time-Turner once again to change Cedric’s fate by embarrassing him in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. Scorpius does not find Albus when he returns to the present. Dolores Umbridge approaches and tells him that Harry is dead and that Lord Voldemort now governs the wizarding world.
Act Three
Scorpius learns that Cedric joined the Death Eaters and killed Neville Longbottom because of him. Longbottom would have been able to kill Nagini had he not joined the Death Eaters. This would have given Voldemort the upper hand in the Battle of Hogwarts. With Harry dead, Albus disappeared into thin air, and Voldemort was free to turn the Ministry of Magic into a dictatorship. Scorpius, in the new reality, was a big hit at Hogwarts, where he led the Head Boy’s Society and was a Quidditch star, and where he helped his fellow students and faculty pick on Muggle-borns. Scorpius leads a resurrected Inquisitorial Squad and Dementors to keep order at Hogwarts under Umbridge’s leadership.
There is a powerful shadowy person known as “The Augurey” at the helm of the Ministry of Magic. Scorpius is able to use the Time-Turner to avoid the intervention of Albus and his past self and restore the events of the original timeline with the help of the alternate Ron, Hermione, and Severus Snape, the last members of a shrinking anti-Voldemort resistance organisation. This is made possible by the deaths of alternative versions of Ron, Hermione, and Snape at the hands of the Dementors. At some point, Scorpius and Albus are located by their parents, as well as Ron and Hermione. After this, Harry reprimands Albus for his behaviour, but the two eventually make up.
Scorpius and Albus, realising the threat posed by the Time-Turner, try to destroy it on their own and are soon assisted by Delphi. Noticing the tattoo of an Augurey on Delphi’s body, Scorpius learns that in the parallel universe, she served as Minister of Magic. Delphi kidnaps them, murders one of their classmates in the process, and discloses her plan to restore the parallel timeline.
Harry and Draco confront Amos when Ron tells them he spotted Albus and Scorpius with Delphi while they were in Hogsmeade with Neville, only to learn that Delphi enchanted him into thinking she was his niece. After Albus and Scorpius stop Delphi from completing the Triwizard Tournament’s final test, Delphi uses the Time-Turner once more to go even further back in time, effectively ending the adventure. Unknowingly, she drags the lads back in time with her, and then she destroys the Time-Turner, leaving them helpless.
Delphi’s hidden writing on the walls is discovered by Harry, Draco, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron during their search of the room. This prophecy foretells Voldemort’s eventual return. When Ginny discovers the ceiling writing that indicates Delphi is Voldemort’s daughter, Draco asks her why she is so preoccupied with his return.
Act Four
After learning they were sent back to the night before Harry‘s parents were murdered, Albus and Scorpius naturally conclude that Delphi is plotting to eliminate Harry before Voldemort can. Knowing that in the present, Harry’s infant blanket will get soiled with a love potion, Albus and Scorpius scrawl an unseen message on it. It says in the note: “Dad. Help. 311081. Godric’s Hollow.”
Draco discloses that the Time-Turner was a prototype for a perfected machine he owns, but they are still unable to rescue the lads because they don’t know when they’ve landed. The word from the boys prompts Harry and his companions to use Draco’s Time-Turner to go back in time and rescue the boys before Delphi can destroy them. As they wait for her, they make the assumption that Delphi wants to convince Voldemort to give up on his effort to kill Harry, therefore insuring her father’s survival and giving her the chance to be with him.
When Harry uses Transfiguration to look like Voldemort, he manages to distract Delphi long enough for the others to take her down. Instead of having Delphi executed, a decision is made to give her a life sentence in Azkaban. Then, Lord Voldemort shows up and acts like he doesn’t see Harry and the others. Because they don’t want to deal with the fallout of changing the past, the group lets the murder of Harry’s parents happen again.
Once back in the present, Delphi is sent to Azkaban. Scorpius expresses interest in trying out for the Slytherin Quidditch Team and asks Rose out on a date as a result of Albus and Scorpius’s decision to get more involved at Hogwarts. Harry and Albus go to see Cedric’s grave and Harry expresses regret for his part in Cedric’s death.
The One Play version’s happy conclusion has been used for the current West End production (2022), rather than the original happy ending described above.
Conclusion
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a beloved play since its inception in 2016, and continues to be highly regarded by fans of the Harry Potter series. The two-part play can be watched either in one day as a marathon session, or over two days. According to reviews, there’s something truly magical about watching the story of Harry Potter unfold on stage! Many have praised it for captivating audiences with stunning visuals and effects of spellcasting. Plus the lighthearted and humorous elements similar to the novels, making it particularly entertaining. So if you’re wondering whether this amazing stage adaptation of J.K Rowling’s books is worth it – prepare to be surprised and delighted! Book your tickets here.
