Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
‘He has to deal with the legacy of his father’s past and that burden’
so early in life, picking up the story 20 years later a lot of his chickens are going to come home to roost – as I think a lot of people find in their forties. When the next generation come along and they’re parents themselves, they have to reckon their internal accounts with the relationships they’ve built. We’re not giving anything away in the plot to say that the relationship between Albus and Harry is a large part of the meal that we’re giving people. But there’s a hell of a lot to it besides that.’ Honestly, I try to get more information out,
but I’m rebuffed every time. I point out the fact that the text is being published soon anyway and that, besides, nobody worries about spoilering ‘Hamlet’. But Parker has an answer for that. ‘I know somebody,’ he grins, ‘with whom
I’ve watched “Hamlet” and “Othello” as well as the new Star Wars movie with them having absolutely no idea what’s going to happen, and I can’t tell you what a joy it was. I will take to my grave with me the atmosphere of the first “Cursed Child” preview, because no one knewanything. Only very rarely have I been able to deploy the phrase “audible gasps”. And it wasn’t through spectacle, it was simply through the deployment of information. Obviously that is going to settle a little as the information does get out there, but the
joy of discovery and the joy of following these lives further is what’s at the heart of it.’ What else do we know about the play? It’s in
two parts, firmly in keeping with the epic scope of the later books; they can be seen as a matinee Part I followed by an evening Part II or over two consecutive nights. Rowling has assured us on Twitter that it’ll be a weepy. It’s directed by John Tiffany, whose magic-heavy productions ‘Let the Right One In’ and ‘The Glass Menagerie’ set an obvious precedent for a show that’s clearly going to be chocker with special effects. (‘Inevitably, given the nature of the story – it would have been naive for us to assume otherwise,’ notes Parker.) We know there was a live owl in it, which got ditched after the first preview. (Parker: ‘We’ve parted company with the owl.’) I don’t see the stage, but I can hear a lot of fantastically loud, fantastically ominous music, which I assume is the original score from electropopper Imogen Heap. Parker assures me it will be possible to
understand what’s going on even if you’ve not read the books or seen the films. ‘It’s completely coherent without former knowledge,’ he says. ‘You don’t have to read seven books in order to see this play. Though there are lots of presents in the script if you have.’ Clemmett gives me an interesting insight
into the process behind the play. There are those who assume every detail in the Harry universe is dictated by Rowling, but in fact it seems like part of the appeal to her was giving free rein to others. ‘Me and Anthony [Boyle, who plays Draco’s hilariously named son Scorpius] created the backstories of both Albus and Scorpius. We would pick a particular event that would have happened between birth and the present day, thinking what that event might be, adding flesh to those bones, and it was a really exciting journey for us. It’s been lovely in that respect, to have a blank canvas.’ ‘Given the potential for tight control over
something that’s so personal and such a gigantic success,’ says Parker, ‘it never fails to amaze me the amount of generosity Joanne [Rowling] has got in terms of sharing this.’ A Potterphile colleague who saw an early
preview (and loved it) gave me a few minor spoilers, which I attempt to craft into leading questions, all of which Parker and Clemmett bat away. I come away having learned impressively little, except for the fact they’re both thoroughly nice chaps who clearly believe in the project intensely and are having a thoroughly good time – not necessarily a given when talking about serious actors dabbling with fantasy. But then, Harry Potter is more than that. It’s the
Keeping mumThe nuclear Potter family, 2016-style
Time Out London July 5 – 11 2016 32
greatest story of our age, and it continues in our city. Paradoxically, for all its insane popularity, it’s now also one of London’s best-kept secrets. ■ à ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ is at the Palace Theatre until May 27 2017. See our review at
www.timeout.com/theatre.
POTTER FAMILY & SCORPIUS: CHARLIE GRAY, SAM CLEMMETT: ANDY PARSONS
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