'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' review: NO SPOILERS
If you’re reading this, chances are you grew up with Harry Potter. You’ve either read the books a billion times, or just enjoyed the movies. Either way, you know about ‘The Boy Who Lived’. And given all the hype on social media (positive and negative) you’ve also heard about ‘The Cursed Child’.
The play by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne (and J.K Rowling, or course) follows Harry as a grown up, and his relationship with his family and friends. It premiered on the 30th of July, and the script was released the day after, 31st of July. And what a day to do it- not only J.K Rowling’s birthday, but Harry’s as well.
Potterheads all over the globe eagerly waited for their pre-ordered copy, and probably, like me, read it in a few hours. And then the critiques began. All over social media, Potterheads were either recommending it to their friends, or furious that J.K would ‘put her name’ on it.
The main thing that I’ve seen all over social media is the misconception that it’s a book. It’s not- it’s purely just the script of the play- nothing more, nothing less. Although I still saw it play out in my mind, I doubt I fully captured the magic of the on-stage production - with all the special effects and amazing actors and actresses. It’s not really fair to compare it to the seven novels. We can’t get all of Harry’s hilarious inner monologue, or see all the characters from the series again. I’ve read numerous reviews saying I wanted this character to pop up, and this one and this one. However, the characters that do make an appearance are amazing, and I’m sure they are amazing on-stage.
At this point, I have to admit that right after reading it, I just sat for a moment, trying to comprehend what I just read, and what it actually meant to me. And I still haven’t decided if I like it or not. There were points where I was laughing, and crying, and others where I was just in shock. There are characters I like, and some I don’t.
So when you read it (if you haven’t already) I recommend you do these things.
Approach it as a script, and not a book. The detail that made the books so amazing isn’t quite there.
You have to use your imagination. Read the stage directions- they’re really important.
Love the characters that are there and don’t ask for more.
Cry and laugh, and just enjoy being in the Harry Potter universe again.
Don’t read critiques right after you’ve finished (that’s what I did #regrets). Let yourself make a judgement.
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