(no subject)
There are a lot of things that I can say about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I saw it for the first time on Wednesday 21 September 2016, sitting in the front row (AA) next to the aisle, a location that I had never sat in before now. Sitting so close to the stage was certainly an experience by itself - I felt very involved with the show and I was completely conscious of the fact that I was watching real humans in front of me. One thing I adore about the theatre is the fact that I am watching something being performed live, in real time and by humans that get one shot for real (not including rehearsals and the sheer number of shows that they perform): I feel completely immersed in the show in a way that I am not when I watch films/TV shows. So being within touching distance of the actors was breathtaking.
The show itself was also breathtaking. The staging was by far the most amazing thing about it - the command of the stage, the way they used the sets and the movable pieces of the sets, the magic - and I think that if the actual production wasn't as cohesive and as impressive as it was, then the play would probably have worked better as a film. But seeing the magic of the theatre put to such good use was so perfect. The way they danced with the moving staircases of Hogwarts, the moving portraits where a human stood in shadow but in a frame and moved like they would in the film, the way that the props on the stage were made to look as if they were controlled by magic - the enlarged soap or the spinning Time Turner for examples - all were so well thought out and well executed. Even the jets of fire in the final battle scene between Delphi and Harry instead of the magic were imaginative and a very clever way to show the magical battle.
The story itself was very clever, although it was also a story that could be found on AO3 or FF.net. I believe I've read very similar time travel stories in the past, some as good as this one but most far more cheesy and badly written. Whether JK had a large part in writing the play or whether it was written beforehand and she merely added her name to give the writers permission to produce (which I believe to be honest), this story is a fanfiction.
But it works.
There were elements that I didn't like but they played out as I hoped they would. The rumour regarding Scorpius being Voldemort's son for example. I was furious during the play, hoping that the writers hadn't disregarded the best things about the Malfoy family that we as readers discovered in the final book: that ultimately, family is more important than power. And if the rumours had been true then that would show that the Malfoys put power above family (by wanting to raise the child of Voldemort so badly that they sent Astoria Malfoy back in time) and I would have been furious - turning back the pages of Deathly Hallows just to fit the writers' narrative and ruin the Malfoys' characterisation. But they didn't and I was extremely pleased - even turning the truth regarding the secrecy behind Scorpius' early life into a touching story from Draco to Harry regarding his wife.
I also didn't like the origins of Delphini Diggory - a child of Bellatrix Lestrange and Voldemort? Really? I'm sure I've read that before in hundreds of bad fanfiction. It makes little sense and while the narrative in the play did allow for that reveal - the rumours of Voldemort having a child had stuck to Scorpius but they were clearly founded in truth with Delphini - I felt a little like the writers went with an easy option for the main villain. Did I like Delphi though? Yes - I enjoyed her bumbling character in the first few scenes where we saw her and the reveal that she was the BIG BAD was an enjoyable scene. I liked her ultimate plot too: I thought going back in time to warn her father off attacking the Potters was clever.
Although her plot - as so many plots of bad guys these days do - was so circumstantial it was a little hard to believe. Her plot relied on there being a time turner that could go back years so that she could change something that would mean Voldemort was alive again. And then when it turned out there was a time turner, she needed Albus to overhear Amos Diggory talking to Harry and to put the idea in Albus' head that he could go back in time to save Cedric and to spite his father (which in turn relied on Albus and Harry not getting on). Then it relied on Albus and Scorpius actually going back in time, an idea that wasn't planted by Delphi so she was effectively waiting for them to steal the time turner, and messing up the time stream so much that Voldemort would live and in which case she wouldn't remember the time line where she needed to go back in time to save Voldemort at all...
The time turner plot is also extremely fanfiction-y but the writers at least addressed the issues that come with changing the past. I adored the first time that Albus and Scorpius changed history and that the writers didn't change much but changed enough (Hermione not trusting Krum so going to the Yule Ball with Ron and therefore not allowing Ron's jealousy to manifest and show him and most likely Hermione that they had feelings for each other, leading to them not ending up together) shows that they truly thought about the ramifications of time travel. I also adored the evil universe that Scorpius went to and I actually would love to hear more about that one - maybe even meet the so-called Scorpion King and see just how different a pure-blood supremacist version of Scorpius would be to the adorable geek that I grew to love over 5 hours of live-action play.
Because if there is one character who I can safely say was the stand out of the play, it was the aforementioned Scorpius Malfoy. I truly adored seeing a Malfoy who wasn't raised on the belief that the purity of his blood was the be-all-and-end-all, seeing a normal boy who just wanted to make friends and survive teenage-hood and Scorpius was all that and more. He was kind, and clever, and it was clear that he loved to learn, a boy who was loyal to his friends but not very good at making them. Draco said it in the play at one point: Scorpius was a follower, not a leader and I truly loved seeing the difference nurture can make to a person. Astoria Malfoy did not raise her son to believe in the traditional pure blood society rules, and Scorpius comes out as a shy, sensitive, kind boy who is his own person. He was wonderful to watch and a very empathetic character to engage with. His scenes were by far the stand out scenes in the play.
Plus, when he emerged from the 'lake' on stage after the second task and after he then fixed the second task, I was so close to the stage that I was splashed by him. I WAS SPLASHED BY SCORPIUS MALFOY!
He was adorably shy and uncomfortable in the evil alternate reality. I could tell just how hurt he was when Albus ignored him in the no-Rose alternate reality. I could feel his loneliness just from how he was running up and down the moving staircases after his temporarily former best friend.
I also adored the friendship between Albus and Scorpius. Albus was a character who I did love and really rooted for, but where Scorpius was an adorable boy, Albus was someone I just wanted to help. I wanted to help fix his relationship with Harry. I wanted to help him fit in better at school. I certainly wanted to help him with his bizarre idea that saving Cedric Diggory from death was anything but a disaster waiting to happen.
But it was his and Scorpius' friendship that was the best part of their interactions. While if they were older, I'd probably be in the camp that would ship Albus/Scorpius because of their friendship, I really loved and appreciated the close platonic friendship that the two boys shared, stemming from pressure from fathers, from the outside world, from their classmates and the solace that they shared in each other's company. Albus dragged Scorpius into the time turner mess, and Scorpius saved the world from the evil alternate reality. And then when both of them were transported back to 1981, their team work was so effortless it was wonderful to witness. I loved their friendship - from how Scorpius stood up to Albus when he was moping more about himself than Scorpius' hardships, to how hard Scorpius fought to bring Albus back from non-existence, to how they managed to work out Delphi's plans to get to Godric's Hollow, to how they were there for each other through Astoria's death and through the hardships of the trials put to them in the play. They remind me of Harry and Ron, but a little more realistically teenage angst-y.
The adults in the play, the characters I've grown up with, were a breath of fresh air and I was so grateful that they were more than mere background characters. I want to know what happened to Harry after the battle of Hogwarts. I want to know how Ginny and Harry made their lives together. I want to know how Draco was after the disastrous happenings of years six and seven. And I want to know how the very first couple I shipped (Ron and Hermione) were doing twenty years after we left them. And seeing all those questions answered about my beloved childhood characters filled me with gratitude I'm not sure I can fully describe. I saw how Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Draco all dealt with adulthood - the trials of being a parent, the trials of working and of responsibilities - and how they had grown from when they were children. Draco and Harry coming to an understanding to work together for their sons. Draco even voluntarily going to see Harry, saying that his son was in tears so Draco wanted to stop Harry's forced separation of the boys; putting the happiness of his son over his childhood rivalry. It was wonderful to experience, watching the adult-version of characters I've grown up with react to situations in ways that show how much they have grown.
I am grateful to JK for allowing the play to be written (whether she wrote any part of it or not) and while the story has its flaws, all are forgivable. The play itself is one of the best plays I have ever had the pleasure and privilege to see and if I could see it again tomorrow I would. I hope they at least release a recording of the play at one point in the future because while a film version would be enjoyable, I think without the magic of the stage, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child wouldn't be as enjoyable as it was.
Favourite scenes:
- Albus and Scorpius becoming friends on the train
- Scorpius in the evil world: especially the scene with Draco when he experiences how different his father was in that universe. It was a shame the only other father-son interactions we witnessed were in the background.
- Scorpius running to Draco in 1981, stopping before hugging his Dad, Draco throwing out his arms and Scorpius diving into them.
- The whole scene in Godric's Hollow after the main cast had dealt with Delphini. Hearing James and Lily (who I was extremely grateful to say were cast as 20 year olds, as they should be!) dying and watching as Harry watched his parents die, knowing there was nothing that he could do to stop it without ruining the future, was heartbreaking. I was close to tears myself.
- Albus and Harry's evolution of distance and how at the end of play, they were only starting the mend their relationship rather than it being magically perfect.
- The scene where Draco and Harry argue about Albus' and Scorpius' friendship, fight and then Ginny turns up and says that she was gone for merely three minutes.
- The scene in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom where she fawns over baby Potter and Malfoy and then adult Potter and Malfoy enter after the boys have gone down into the lake. "I've always been partial to a Malfoy..."
Particulars of my show for my memory:
- I got splashed by Scorpius Malfoy. Twice.
- When it was revealed that Cedric had killed Neville in the Battle of Hogwarts, we the audience (who knew what that meant) gasped.
- I clapped when they performed the Polyjuice Potion scene and I'm so surprised the rest of the audience didn't.