#there's a boy who has harry energy although more spoiled and sarcastic and this is delightful as i do actually think

[dodolostinhell]

Harry Potter and the cursed child - the play, my opinion (+Scorbus)

(This is super long (3.5k words), but I marked the different topics in case you want to read about something specifically!)

I went to London two weeks ago and guess what: I was lucky enough to get tickets for the play!

I just wanted to share my thoughts on the play. Please note that this are my very subjective thoughts on the play and someone else who was in the same room as me could have thought something completely else about it. Also note that I am one of the very few people out there on the HP fandom who liked reading the Skript. So my opinion on the play may differ (although I highly doubt that anyone would dislike the actual play)

I LOVED IT. I loved it so much. I was shaking after part one and crying after part two. It was all too much to handle for my little heart. I hope I can somehow share my experience through sharing it here.

I want to start with some general thoughts and opinions and get more detailed later, where I want to talk more about the actors/characters and some of the relationships, ending with Scorpius and Albus‘s relationship in the play (spoiler: it was so gay). I won’t talk about the plot. Because that is obviously the same.

The theater was beautiful. The set and everything around it was so lovely. I actually had pretty good seets in the middle, looking down on the stage (I was in like the first balcony/dress circle). I could see the whole stage perfectly. I loved how they expended the set for some scenes, so it actually felt like you were in the middle of the action. You could feel the energy of the play way better that way. For example when the dementors flew through the air or at the end, when Voldemort steps from stage into the crowd and the other actors are looking at us, while reacting to Harry’s parents death.

The special effects were amazing! They were made so well and it really gave the play the magic it needed. Of course it’s different than a movie (or a book, where you see it perfectly in your head), but it didn’t matter. It worked brilliantly and made my mouth drop several times. Stuff like Draco and Harry‘s Duell looked very impressive and filled the whole room with energy and tension. I won’t be spoil how they did it, but I‘ll just say that they used light a lot and fire. Just one thing that I absolutely adored, that I need to talk about, is the effect while time-turning: when time settles lights were moved that way, that it seemed like the wall was moving like water or a wave. Like getting bigger and smaller in smooth movements. It looked so good.

The other normal props were okay. Sometimes I had hoped for more. For example the train scenes, where they just build seats with suitcases. But things like the moving stairs on the other hand looked really cool. But in general nothing special about it.

The costumes looked very good for the most part. (Exception is Ginny, more in her segment.). I don’t know why they changed the school uniform, but it looked really nice. Although you sometimes couldn’t see the house colors very well. I loved the school uniform in the Voldemort AU. It looked very elegant and reminded me of Draco in his sixth year. It also suited Scorpius so well. They also changed the wands of the people we already know. I don’t know the reason for that but it isn’t like you could see them very well anyway. I really like the wands of the next gen, whose we didn’t know. They look so pretty.

The actor‘s performances were brilliant! They gave those lines so much life and made the story appear very different a lot of times. They were the people who made it a whole different experience to reading the Skript. I think this would make it way more appealing to the people who didn’t like the Skript, because I think some lines work very differently played out by actors in comparison to reading them.

Now I will go into more detail about actors, relationships etc. (Things that always matter the most to me).

Let‘s just start with Harry Potter played by Jamie Ballard. I liked it. He is an amazing actor and portrayed Harry‘s feelings very well. Especially the scene where he watched his parents die was very impressive. The way he broke down really hit me. That scream at the end was nerve wracking and you could feel all the hurt inside him coming out.

Also the very controversial line „i wish you weren’t my son“ was delivered so well. It really came out of a place of frustration. You noticed throughout the whole scene how much he is struggling with being a good father for Albus and the hurt he is feeling when Albus rejects him: it all build up to that moment, where it all was too much.

I love how Jamie brought Harry‘s trauma to life. You could really see how Harry wasn’t able to get closure with his past.

Next is Hermione, played by Nicola Alexis. She was brilliant! It was 100% Hermione and she did a perfect job. All her mannerisms were on point and it really felt like Hermione. I loved how she interacted with Harry, in a kind of motherly way, but still as a friend. Especially when they were joking around. She had a really nice energy about her and can’t say enough how great she was (and I really don’t get how people were mad that she’s black. It didn’t matter at all and didn’t make her any less of a perfect Hermione.)

And the last one of the golden trio: Ron, played by Thomas Aldridge. He was a comedy figure throughout the whole play to lighten it up a bit. Thomas did a good job though. He was very funny and portrayed Ron’s strange humor and mannerisms really well. It still didn’t feel like Ron to me. I can’t really explain why, but I couldn’t quite see him as Ron. But his performance was still great.

My queen Ginny, played by Susie Traylling. She was a really cool mum. She was cool and badass just like she’s supposed to be. The only issue I had was her outfit: it was so ugly. She wore a horrendous long skirt and a weird wooly sweater. It just wasn’t Ginny at all.

Also sometimes she was softer, especially to Harry, and that never really felt right. Somehow there missed that sarcastic tone or something that alsways comes with her, but she was just this super caring and kind person in those scenes. She should have needed a bit more self esteem in those. But in general Susie did a good job (and it way better than movie Ginny, although that isn’t very hard).

And Harry and Ginny’s relationship kind of works. I liked there chemistry and how Ginny is kind of the boss of the family (because of course she is).

Rose, played by Helen Aluko. She gave Rose a very different touch to what I expected her to be. She’s energetic, has a shit load of self esteem and has quite some attitude but that becomes quite nice to the end of the play. At the start she’s just as irritating as I imagined her to be but by the end in her fourth year, she becomes kind of sarcastic and likes to joke around in here very own way, playing a lot with her attitude. I really liked her by the end, which I couldn’t in the Skript. Helen makes Rose appear so different to what I imagined her to be like are at the end, but I love it.

Young Harry by Tommy Bard was adorable. A brilliant performance for such an young actor. He really felt like Harry to me and he did an excellent job.

My boy Draco, played by James Howard. He was so sassy and I loved it. I was sceptical at first, because he seemed kind of arrogant, but you soon notice that it is a mask to protect himself and his son. After a while you could see the fear and emotions inside him. I liked how he gave Draco that three dimensional touch that he really needs. The only thing that irritated me a bit was his deep voice, I felt like didn’t suit Draco, but James’s performance absolutely made up for that.

Delphi played by Eve Ponsonby. She looked so good (I was kind of irritated at the beginning and than I realized how good Tom Riddle looked and it made sense). I loved her clothing style with ripped pants and a black jeans jacket. Also her colored light blonde hair with blue tips looked so cool. It just was very weird when she suddenly wore that jacket out of black feathers after her reveal. It made her flying around a bit too dramatic.

It came to a surprise to me that I really liked Delphi. She was someone I would like to spend time with myself (without the whole daughter of Voldemort thingy). She really felt like a energetic, self-confident young women, who’s very passionate. Also her revealed selve was very cool! Eve’s performance was brilliant. She was very evil but you could still sympathize with her at the same time. You saw how much she loved her father and how badly she wanted to see her dad. Not just as a partner in crime, but also as an orphan, who misses her father.

She’s also kind of the biggest Scorbus shipper (she absolutely knew that at least Scorpius has a huge crush on Albus) and the biggest cock block of all time (more about that later in the Scorbus segment).

I also loved how they hinted on Delphi being bad. In the way she talkes sometimes I could sense there was something shady going on. Or another example would be at the beginning in Harry’s house with Amos Diggory. You can see her carefully grabbing her wand when she sees Harry, but than deciding against it and leaving her wand in her pocket.

Hagrid was the only Performance I didn’t like at all. His costume was great, but everything else wasn’t Hagrid. He was too naive and wasn’t kind or empathetic (at least it didn’t feel like it).

Snape wasn’t very good either. He looked like Snape and killed Alan Rickman’s way of talking but his personality wasn’t right. He was purely a fanfic Snape and that isn’t how Snape really is: He’s an asshole and that doesn’t change in an AU. But instead he wasn’t mean at all. Instead more reserved.

Professor McGonagall played by Sandy McDade was brilliant. It was perfect. 100% McGonagall. She was sarcastic, sassy and so done throughout the play. She didn’t want anything to do with Harry’s shit. I loved how different her dynamic was towards her former students and her students now. And it was hilarious how she still had authority over the golden trio (+Draco) although two of them have super high positions in the Ministry (Hermione his the fucking minister of magic and still she’s intimidated by McGonagall. Genius)

Moaning Myrtle played by April Hughes. She was brilliant. My absolute favorite performance. It was absolutely perfect. Nicely uncomfortable but still funny. And the way she moved: so perfect! Aaand she changed her lines: Harry is canonly bi!

Let me explain: Myrtle is talking to Albus and Scorpius. While she talks it is obvious she sees their dads in them. She says so explicitly. They start talking about Cedric. She says it was such a shame that the pretty one had to die. She listened to so many people crushing on him. So many Girls and some boys. While she says that she looks more into Scorpius’s direction, but when she says “and boys” she turns to Albus, definitely thinking about Harry, and telling Albus (and us) that way, that Harry used to have a crush on Cedric. I was so happy about it.

Now finally the protagonists!

Albus Potter was played by Joe Idris-Roberts. I liked it a lot. Joe gave Albus so much personality I had a hard time finding in the Skript. He made him three dimensional and he really felt like a teen who is going through a lot.

My cinnamon roll Scorpius Malfoy played by Jonathan Case. Damn he looked good (the blonde hair suits him so well. He looked so handsome and adorable). It was perfect. Quirky, nerdy, socially awkward, enthusiastic, insecure, funny. Absolutely brilliant. I didn’t think I could love Scorpius more, but Jonathan did it. His mannerisms were brilliant and really portrayed his quirkiness. The way he presented the lines were creative, fitted perfectly and made them even greater as they were. Also so many layers to his presentation. There was never a scene were he was one dimensional and there always was something more going on with Scorpius. I loved just watching him and interpreting his performance and what Jonathan tried to show subtextually.

Now relationships! I touched some already but I wanted to talk about them a bit more.

I’ll start with Harry and Albus’s relationship. I touched this a bit in Harry’s segment already. They truely felt like father and son who have a very troubled relationship. You can see how they love eachother but they struggle to understand eachother. Especially with Albus being in the middle of puberty where you already have enough trouble understanding yourself. Until Godrics Hollow there is so much tension. When Harry decides that he must just be an authority to Albus and separates him from Scorpius really broke my heart and you could see how Harry didn’t know better and was frustrated. There was so much to it and so many unspoken words were between them. It worked brilliantly and they portrayed their relationship great.

I adored the shift in Scorpius and Draco’s relationship. You always saw how much they cared for eachother. But they didn’t know how to approach eachother. In Godrics Hollow everything turns and they have a adorable father-son relationship. You could see them in the background talking, both smiling at eachother. It warmed my heart.

Delphi’s relationship with Albus and Scorpius before here reveal was also very interesting. She actually was very nice to them, although she could get a bit too enthusiastic. Delphi saw that Albus and Scorpius need eachother to be stronger and therefore actually is a good friend to them and brings them back together. It’s also really clever how she separates them at the same time. While Scorpius and Albus are still together, she slowly loosens their relationship by making Scorpius very jealous. You could see how Scorpius dislikes her more and more the more the relationship between her and Albus grows. She’s excellent with people and therefore exactly knows how to play with those two so they do what she wants. Yes she looses at the end, but that’s because she didn’t manage to loosen Scorpius and Albus’s relationship after all.

So before I can get more into detail on what she did with the two I need to get started mit Scorbus!

Scorpius and Albus need and adore eachother. Their friendship helps them to get through some tough emotional stuff. But throughout the play I got the feeling that there was more. They both feel more than friendship for eachother and they truely love eachother. They don’t know that from the other and they try to hide it, but I saw something there.

It starts with the touchiness. There are loads of casual touches. More than I ever see with any of my friends. They need to be close to eachother.

And then there are Scorpius’s looks. Gosh that boy can look at Albus, it’s incredible. Almost all the time, when Albus isn’t looking at him, Scorpius looks at him with love and desire. The scene where it is the most obvious was when Delphi was Training Albus and Scorpius was getting closer to them to watched what going on. There was so much jealousy and hurt in his eyes. He was not only afraid he would loose his friend and be replaced, but also that Albus would have a crush on Delphi. Delphi sensed that of course and used this.

Another example is right before Delphi’s reveal. Scorpius and Albus sit very close next to eachother on the stairs at the owlery, talking what to do with the time-turner. Not only they sit very close and there’s lot’s of casual touching, they both make eyes at eachother. It seems like Scorpius isn’t even trying to hide what he is feeling, smiling so openly, warmly and loving at Albus. Albus is doing a better job at hiding it, but there also is some pain in his eyes, as if he is looking at Scorpius as if he will never be able to have him that way.

Then comes Delphi into the same scene. She goes and sit right between the two and separates them that way. You can see how Albus is looking apologetic into Scorpius’s direction, who is looking hurt and jealous. That look really made me sad. Delphi than changes from being the biggest cock block ever to being a shipper and ties Scorpius and Albus together on their hands, so they basically sit on top of eachother.

And finally the last scene Albus and Scorpius have together. In the Skript this scene made me very angry, because suddenly Scorpius needed to be straight again and have a crush on Rose, but the live performance changes it completely and is almost proof that there is more going on. The actors definitely didn’t care about Scorose and went full on Scorbus.

The scene takes place an a staircase. They stand in front of eachother, while Scorpius stands two stairs further down. Because of the hight difference it first seems like they don’t stand that close, but actually they stand pretty close to eachother. They talk about how they can’t believe Scorpius has asked Rose out. Scorpius genuinely didn’t look like he could believe it. As if he didn’t want to but now he was crazy enough to actually do it. Albus looks kind of sad when he says it. A little disappointed.

Scorpius starts rambling on how Rose and him will have a beautiful future together, but although his words should be hopeful, they came across as an act. As if his heart wasn’t at it. They both try not to look at eachother, because they have a sad look in their eyes. As if they were both hiding their true feelings.

Than Rose shows up. She greets Scorpius with Scorpius King with a sarcastic tone to it. She runs away laughing after that. In the Skript it sounded she actually liked Scorpius, but in the play she was just making fun of him. When Rose is pretending like she likes Scorpius for this few seconds, Scorpius looks shocked. I could practically see “oh no what have I done” going through his head. Albus also looked shocked. He never wished that Scorpius’s crush would be returned.

When they realize it was just a joke, they loosen up. And Scorpius hugs Albus. By far the most passionate hug of all. Especially because Scorpius is standing a little lower makes the hug even more adorable. Than Albus says he thought they agreed they didn’t hug. That made me thinking, why they would discuss that in the first hand. My idea is, that they are both scared that their crush would come out and they can hide it better, when they aren’t intimate that way. And then Scorpius says, that he thought they would do this in this new version he had in mind. This confuses me until the day of today, because this is an actual line in the Skript were Scorbus apparently isn’t a thing. But the only thing “a new version of us” could mean is in a romantic way. Everyone I spoke with agreed with me and were just as confused as me. I just believe that Scorbus is canon and that these two oblivious boys have huge crushes on eachother. That’s at least what the play told me.

I hope I could kind of share my experience and this didn’t end up being way too long for anyone to read. I can just say that I loved the play and I can absolutely recommend it to everyone. It was worth every pound.