Continuing the Magic: An Introduction to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
The best play of all time and one of the biggest pop culture phenomenon of the decade (Forbes), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is magical. Due to the eighth part of the Harry Potter series, the magic is back in the West End. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are back and ready for a new challenge nineteen years after they saved the wizarding world and this time they are joined by a new generation of students at the magical Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. Expect the magical, the time constraint, and the big fight against the unknown forces with the whole world at stake.
This spectacular theatrical show is described by the phrases ‘epic theatricality and high-octane narrative’ (The Hollywood Reporter). And it’s assumed that one would be yelling, clapping, and gaping (The Telegraph) and experience a spine-shiver by the time it is over (Rolling Stone). This is simply amazing, it is magical, and it is phenomenal” (The Times). Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne, was opened in the summer of 2016 at the Palace Theatre, London’s West End from script by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne.
The Creative Magic Behind Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
The world created by the playwright J. K. Rowling has been staged in “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” by the team of talented artists. It has been written by Jack Thorne with Rowling and directed by John Tiffany; it brings the new sentiment to the play but does not deviate from the characters. The show is a visual delight and this is due to the direction of John Tiffany and set design of Christine Jones and the lighting of Neil Austin. The strong movement by Steven Hoggett, and the beautiful projections by Jamie Harrison make the magic believable. The creative team behind “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” has provided the audience with the marvelous music by Imogen Heap which brings the theatrical show to a new level that is a worthy continuation of the books and movies but also the beginning of a new journey on the stage.
J.K. Rowling
Some of the famous creations of J. K. Rowling are the Harry Potter series, numerous standalone novels, and a series of crime thrillers under the pen name Robert Galbraith. The series has seven books and eight films and has been sold over 600 million copies and translated into 80 languages. New film series that Rowling began in 2016 and continued up to 2022 are based on the book she wrote for the charity under the title of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.The Ickabog, a fairy tale she wrote in 2020 was published online for free during the Covid-19 pandemic and was her return to writing for young children. The latest book for the young ones that she published in 2021 is The Christmas Pig.
Jack Thorne
Jack Thorne is a playwright, screenwriter, and a radio dramatist who has been awarded Tony®, Olivier, and BAFTA awards. Some of his theatre works include Hope and Let The Right One In that was also directed by John Tiffany. He has also acted in Woyzeck at the Old Vic, Scrapyard for Headlong, Rose Theatre Kingston, Bristol Old Vic and Theatr Clwyd, The Solid Life of Sugarwater for the Graeae Theatre Company and National Theatre, Bunny for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Stacy for Trafalgar Studios 2nd May 1997 and When You Cure Me for the Bush. Among his many adaptations are Stuart: A Life Backwards for Hightide and The Physicists for the Donmar Warehouse.
War Book, A Long Way Down, and the Scouting Handbook for Boys are some of the films that have worked with him. Some of his television work includes The Fades, Glue, Cast-Offs, Don’t Take My Baby, National Treasure, The Last Panthers, and This Is England. He was honored by RTS Television as the Best Mini-Series (National Treasure) in 2017 and BAFTA. He won the BAFTA award in 2012 for the best series for The Fades and best serial for This Is England ’88, and in 2016 for the best mini series for This Is England ’90 and the best single drama for Don’t Take My Baby. His performance of the A Christmas Carol will be in the Old Vic Theatre during the holiday season.
John Tiffany
It is quite a long list of accolades that was given to John Tiffany, the director of Once on both the broadway and west end. His credits as an Associate Director at the Royal Court are shows such as Hope, The Pass, The Twits, and Road. His Let the Right One In which was first performed at Scotland’s National Theatre was followed by the performances at the Royal Court, St. Ann’s Warehouse, and the West End.
Macbeth (also Broadway), Enquirer, Peter Pan, The House of Bernarda Alba, Transform Caithness: Other productions include Be Near Me, Nobody Will Ever Forgive Us, The Bacchae, Black Watch in which he received the Olivier and Critics’ Circle Best Director Awards, Elizabeth Gordon Quinn, Home: Glasgow and many others for the National Theatre of Scotland. Other recent credits include the BAM’s The Ambassador and A. R. T’s The Glass Menagerie. For the academic year 2010-2011, Tiffany was a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University. She worked as an Associate Director of the National Theatre of Scotland from the year 2005 to the year 2012. Among the nine Oliviers, the show bagged home, John won the Best Director for his work in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Steven Hoggett
The Twits at the Royal Court, Let the Right One In and Black Watch at the National Theatre of Scotland, The Glass Menagerie at A. R. T. and Broadway, and Once at A. R. T. and the West End are some of the productions that Steven Hoggett has worked with John Tiffany before. Other credits include St. Joan at The Public, Close to You at NYTW and the Criterion, The Light Princess for the National Theatre, Dr. Dee for the Manchester International Festival, and Rigoletto for the Metropolitan Opera.
He has also performed on broadway in american idiot, peter and the starcatcher , the last ship, rocky the musical, the crucible. Hoggett has collaborated with Frantic Assembly on many productions such as Dirty Wonderland, Stockholm, Lovesong, Othello, Little Dogs, Beautiful Burnout, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and Pool (No Water). Steven and Scott Graham co-wrote the soon to be released Routledge book, The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre. Some of the musicians that Steven has worked for choreographing their music videos include Imogen Heap, Calvin Harris, Bright Light and Bright Light. Some of the movies that he has worked on include Freak Show, a Maven Pictures production and How to Train Your Dragon 2, a Dreamworks production.
Christine Jones
Jones has a rather vast portfolio of works that span in areas such as digital art, fashion, public art, opera, and theatre. Theatre for One that she has established and has been directing has been applauded. Some of the unique experiences that she has directed include; Queen of the Night which has received the Drama Desk Award for Best Unique Experience and Rag & Bone. She has been awarded several Tonys and Oliviers for her performances as a scenic designer especially for American Idiot and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Some of the other projects for which the designer has been involved include Let the Right One In for St. Ann’s Warehouse and West End, Spring Awakening which received a Tony Nomination, and The Cher Show. MET has staged two operas namely La Traviata and Rigoletto.
Jones was also in charge of the virtual art show of Radiohead known as KID A MNESIA in the digital platform. She co-developed and managed the production of the game, SOCIAL!. Distance Dance Club amid the epidemic and was also performed by Steven Hoggett and David Byrne. This was the first show of the Park Avenue Armory after the outbreak. Currently she teaches at the TISCH School of the Arts at New York University and she has been awarded an Obie for Sustained Excellence in Design.
Final Reflections on the Magic of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
That is why the script of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” can be considered as the evidence of the ingenuity and the advanced preparation of the crew, which worked on this play. Their ability to take the use of creative stage design and enthralling plot and blend it with the wonder of the Harry Potter novels has brought back the magic of the series in a theatrical form. The authors of this production are so devoted to the idea of developing the possibilities of what can be done on stage that this is not just the continuation of a beloved story, but the love for the theatre itself. In my opinion, any reader, who reads ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,’ will be thrilled by the story regardless of whether he or she is a fan of the series.
