WARNING: The following review does contain major plot spoilers after the first three paragraphs. Read at your own discretion. Written By: Jack Thorne (with J.K. Rowling and John Tiffany who helped develop the story) Rating: ★★★½ As a dedicated Harry Potter fanatic, I had been online to secure my pre-order of the Cursed Child script pretty early on. It is safe to say that I was absolutely bouncing off the walls with excitement when it was finally delivered by the postman. | Current Poll Standings (updated: 23rd Oct 2016): ϟ Yes, it was magical! | 10 ϟ I liked some parts, but not others | 13 ϟ No way, it was awful | 2 |
Before I get into the review, I am well aware that some Harry Potter fans have been left severely disappointed after reading the Cursed Child. I think a lot of this disappointment stems from the fact that many people saw this as the next book in the series, when it is actually not that at all. I would just like to take this opportunity to point out that J.K. Rowling has always been crystal clear about the fact that it was a script. I can understand the disappointment of it not being a new novel though, but any continuation of the story is an exciting prospect. I also think that, because of all the fan-fiction that has been generated about next generation, many fans have already established in their minds where they think the story has led to, post-Deathly Hallows. If you go into reading the play with an open-mind, there is no reason why a Harry Potter fan can not enjoy this.
Plays are generally all-action as they have a live audience to entertain. You can't expect an audience to be completely engrossed by all the tiny little details that you would normally find in a novel. It would get slightly tedious. Plus, they only have a limited amount of time to tell the story. It is also important to bear in mind that plays are intended to be consumed as a performance, and not as a written text. So therefore, what we get on the page is not even half of what the writer intended the audience to get out of it. You cannot read a script in the same way you read a novel. Scripts lack extensive detail of scenery and character emotion. There are no sweeping descriptions of castle grounds, or magical creatures, or Quidditch matches. They leave space to enable the creative team to create their own vision, and for the actors to bring the words on the page to life in their own interpretation. A script on its own is basically the unfinished product, and I firmly believe that you can not judge a play based solely upon reading it. You have to see it being performed to have a fully formed opinion. I understand that many people who have picked up the Cursed Child might not have ever read a script before, so please keep in mind what I have said above. It's very different than reading a novel! The story is meant to be told visually so you are only receiving part of what was intended for you to get from it.
Plays are generally all-action as they have a live audience to entertain. You can't expect an audience to be completely engrossed by all the tiny little details that you would normally find in a novel. It would get slightly tedious. Plus, they only have a limited amount of time to tell the story. It is also important to bear in mind that plays are intended to be consumed as a performance, and not as a written text. So therefore, what we get on the page is not even half of what the writer intended the audience to get out of it. You cannot read a script in the same way you read a novel. Scripts lack extensive detail of scenery and character emotion. There are no sweeping descriptions of castle grounds, or magical creatures, or Quidditch matches. They leave space to enable the creative team to create their own vision, and for the actors to bring the words on the page to life in their own interpretation. A script on its own is basically the unfinished product, and I firmly believe that you can not judge a play based solely upon reading it. You have to see it being performed to have a fully formed opinion. I understand that many people who have picked up the Cursed Child might not have ever read a script before, so please keep in mind what I have said above. It's very different than reading a novel! The story is meant to be told visually so you are only receiving part of what was intended for you to get from it.
*Continue reading below if you are okay with spoilers!*
The story picks up from where the last book left off with Harry, Ron and Hermione taking their children to Kings Cross Station to board the Hogwarts Express. I thought this was a very nice way to merge both parts of the tale together. From this point onward the story seems to gloss over Albus's first three years at Hogwarts very quickly, which in a novel would be a terrible move but seeing as this is a play I think it makes perfect sense to skip through these years. Plays only have a a couple of hours, give or take, to tell their story and that valuable time can't be spent on Albus and Scorpius building their friendship. By skipping these years they have already established their friendship, as well as the decline of Albus and Harry's relationship. Now they can head straight for the action because, as I mentioned before, they have a live audience waiting to be engaged.
I generally thought the characters were well-written. I was so thrilled to be reading about all the old favourites and where their lives had taken them since the end of the last book, as well as my ever-growing love for new additions. I always imagined Ron Weasley to be the kind of dad that told the most awful dad-jokes, and Scorpius Malfoy endearing character quickly became one of my favourites in the Harry Potter universe. It was also very amusing to find that Harry, the boy who had faced death right in the face on more occasions than I can count on my fingers, now found his biggest problem was completing his paperwork for his unfulfilling government job, alongside trying to mend his deteriorating relationship with his son. Well, that was until his son put the entire Wizarding World in mortal danger...
Throughout the book we see Harry's strained relationship with his son, Albus, who feels like being the child of the famous 'Boy Who Lived' is too much of a burden to carry on his shoulders. With no parental figure to really draw upon, Harry struggles to connect with his son and to understand him. Being the only member of the family sorted into Slytherin pushes this relationship to the brink, and his unlikely friendship with Draco Malfoy's son, Scorpius, is just the icing on top of this very messy, burnt cake. Both boys consider themselves to be outcasts; Albus for not being able to live up to his father and Scorpius for being vilified by society because of the family he was born into, as well as the vicious rumour that circles his parentage.
The main plot of the story revolves around the discovery of a time-turner, an object long believed to have been completely destroyed. It was an essential element to the third book, the Prisoner of Azkaban, and it's inclusion in the story was what made it possible for Sirius Black to have been saved from enduring the Dementor's kiss. After the discovery of the time-turner, Cedric Diggory's father begs Harry to go back in time and save his son from his untimely and unfair death during the Triwizard Tournament. Harry declines this request as he knows that messing with the past can lead to dangerous outcomes. Overhearing this conversation, Albus decides that this is a great way to distance himself from his father's shadow and to prove himself once and for all. Alongside Scorpius and the mysterious Delphi, he steals the time-turner and uses it to attempt to do what his father had refused. The epic adventure that follows seamlessly interweaves different time periods as Albus and Scorpius go back and forth between the past and the present. The danger of the whole situation becomes apparent when Harry begins to have nightmares about the safety of Albus and his scar starts hurting for the first time in years.
Whilst I realise this was a central point to the entire narrative of the play, the time-travelling aspect bugs me a little. I am always a little sceptical when time-travel is involved because I think using it as a plot device is a little dangerous and can get quite ridiculous if done wrong (see Terminator: Genisys). However, time-turner's and their capabilities had already been established in the Wizarding World with the third book so this whole narrative wasn't exactly implausible, I just didn't like the idea of the main narrative being focused around time-travel. At the same time though, I am thrilled they did acknowledge the issues of messing with time in a world where we have already been told that time travel is indeed possible. Some of the things in these 'alternate realities' I did find to be slightly unbelievable though (namely Death Eater Cedric, Hermione as the DADA Professor, and the ridiculously named 'Blood Ball'). Eventually though, I did enjoy reading about Albus and Scorpius coming back to the present time to find out their little changes to the past had huge ripple effects to the present, I just needed a little time to adjust to this aspect of time-travel (that I detest) being used as a focal point in the narrative.
I generally thought the characters were well-written. I was so thrilled to be reading about all the old favourites and where their lives had taken them since the end of the last book, as well as my ever-growing love for new additions. I always imagined Ron Weasley to be the kind of dad that told the most awful dad-jokes, and Scorpius Malfoy endearing character quickly became one of my favourites in the Harry Potter universe. It was also very amusing to find that Harry, the boy who had faced death right in the face on more occasions than I can count on my fingers, now found his biggest problem was completing his paperwork for his unfulfilling government job, alongside trying to mend his deteriorating relationship with his son. Well, that was until his son put the entire Wizarding World in mortal danger...
Throughout the book we see Harry's strained relationship with his son, Albus, who feels like being the child of the famous 'Boy Who Lived' is too much of a burden to carry on his shoulders. With no parental figure to really draw upon, Harry struggles to connect with his son and to understand him. Being the only member of the family sorted into Slytherin pushes this relationship to the brink, and his unlikely friendship with Draco Malfoy's son, Scorpius, is just the icing on top of this very messy, burnt cake. Both boys consider themselves to be outcasts; Albus for not being able to live up to his father and Scorpius for being vilified by society because of the family he was born into, as well as the vicious rumour that circles his parentage.
The main plot of the story revolves around the discovery of a time-turner, an object long believed to have been completely destroyed. It was an essential element to the third book, the Prisoner of Azkaban, and it's inclusion in the story was what made it possible for Sirius Black to have been saved from enduring the Dementor's kiss. After the discovery of the time-turner, Cedric Diggory's father begs Harry to go back in time and save his son from his untimely and unfair death during the Triwizard Tournament. Harry declines this request as he knows that messing with the past can lead to dangerous outcomes. Overhearing this conversation, Albus decides that this is a great way to distance himself from his father's shadow and to prove himself once and for all. Alongside Scorpius and the mysterious Delphi, he steals the time-turner and uses it to attempt to do what his father had refused. The epic adventure that follows seamlessly interweaves different time periods as Albus and Scorpius go back and forth between the past and the present. The danger of the whole situation becomes apparent when Harry begins to have nightmares about the safety of Albus and his scar starts hurting for the first time in years.
Whilst I realise this was a central point to the entire narrative of the play, the time-travelling aspect bugs me a little. I am always a little sceptical when time-travel is involved because I think using it as a plot device is a little dangerous and can get quite ridiculous if done wrong (see Terminator: Genisys). However, time-turner's and their capabilities had already been established in the Wizarding World with the third book so this whole narrative wasn't exactly implausible, I just didn't like the idea of the main narrative being focused around time-travel. At the same time though, I am thrilled they did acknowledge the issues of messing with time in a world where we have already been told that time travel is indeed possible. Some of the things in these 'alternate realities' I did find to be slightly unbelievable though (namely Death Eater Cedric, Hermione as the DADA Professor, and the ridiculously named 'Blood Ball'). Eventually though, I did enjoy reading about Albus and Scorpius coming back to the present time to find out their little changes to the past had huge ripple effects to the present, I just needed a little time to adjust to this aspect of time-travel (that I detest) being used as a focal point in the narrative.
*See below for my favourite and least favourite parts of the script*
Things about the script that I struggled to like: ϟ First of all, Voldemort and Bellatrix having a love child. Erm... I'm pretty sure Bellatrix was married to a man called Rodolphus, and Voldemort had no time for such activities that would interfere with his power-grabbing affairs. I feel like they only added this character to create a villain with a 'valid motive' that would take such strong action against a Wizarding World that had risen up from the darkness of Voldemort's reign. Even with this in mind, I think it would have been more believable if this 'villain' had been a former Death Eater coming out of hiding, or maybe even someone who was just fascinated with the dark arts and wanted to bring Voldemort back. I found Delphi to be an annoying character mainly just because I hated the idea of Voldemort having a child. After all, he couldn't love. And then I can't work out the time-frame of when Bellatrix would have had time to have a baby. I had no problem with the rumour about Scorpius, because that's all it was - a rumour. We all know that outrageous rumours have the ability to spread at the speed of wildfire. I have thought long and hard about this though, and have decided that maybe there was a chance that Voldemort could have wanted a child as he would have seen it as an extension of himself - someone who would become a loyal servant to him in the future. This would make more sense than the idea of Voldemort and Bellatrix having some wild kind of love affair. ϟ What I find even more inconceivable than Bellatrix and Voldy having a child together is Cedric Diggory becoming a Death Eater. I actually think that this may be my least favourite part of the entire play. In no alternate reality would Cedric Diggory be humiliated into becoming a Death Eater. The same Hufflepuff who gave Harry a clue about the dragon's egg for the second task in the Triwizard Tournament because he didn't want him to be the only champion who was left in the dark. You're telling me that same person... became a Death Eater? I refuse to believe it. ϟ The lack of mentions Teddy Lupin got. He received a grand total of ZERO mentions. Teddy Lupin. Harry's godson who visits the Potter's often - not mentioned at all. ϟ Hermione becoming the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in an alternate reality. There's a reason Harry was the one to train members of Dumbledore's Army. Yes, Hermione was talented at most things but there were other subjects that she excelled more at and I just can't comprehend why she would be the DADA professor when it was not her strongest subject. | Despite the odd plot hole here and there, I actually enjoyed it. Here is why: ϟ In the previous books, Slytherin House never had anything pleasant come from it. But here we are with the two heroic main characters, who just happen to be in Slytherin and are good, likeable people. ϟ The friendship (or budding romance) between Scorpius and Albus is one of the best things about the entire play. I love that we are seeing two male characters showing emotion to one another and breaking down this dangerous concept of masculinity where it's seen as 'weak' for two guy friends to hug or share feelings with one another. It was a friendship I never knew I needed until it happened. I would be lying if I said I wasn't hoping these two would take their friendship to a whole new level in the future. ϟ Harry's nightmares that show he is still haunted by his past. You can't go through something as traumatic as Harry did and not suffer from some form of post-traumatic stress disorder. I'm glad they didn't gloss over that and suggest that after all these years he had forgotten about it all and was merrily getting on with his Voldermort-free life because, the truth is, he will never be able to fully rid Voldermort from his thoughts. Voldemort altered his life forever before he had even reached his first birthday, and from then onward his life revolved around defeating him or being defeated. That's not something you forget in a hurry. ϟ Draco Malfoy's character development was one of the highlights of the play. His line: "It is exceptionally lonely being Draco Malfoy" really hit me right in the feels. We saw with the Half-Blood Prince that Draco was starting to realise that he was on the wrong side and, after being fed hatred from his parents his entire life, this was refreshing to see Draco finally thinking about the seriousness of the situation. I always saw his character in the sixth book as being trapped in a position that he didn't know how to get out of. His transition into adulthood was everything I had hoped it would be. Let's never forget that he was a vile and horrid bully. I pity his upbringing and the ideals that were forced upon him as a child, but he was no victim. But I can appreciate how much he matured with age. ϟ The insight we got into Harry's life growing up with the Dursley's before his 11th birthday where the Philosopher's Stone (or Sorcerer's Stone, if you're American) begins. Whilst on the topic of the Dursley's, I'd also like to discuss how badly my heartstrings were tugged at when Harry said he feared small spaces and darkness - obviously two fears that resulted from his childhood spent in the cupboard under the stairs of his Aunt and Uncle's house. ϟ Many people have this on their 'didn't like' lists, but I didn't see Harry as being super out of character at all. He's a lot older now and in an entirely new situation to him. I thought it was interesting to see how 'the boy who lived' took on the stress and responsibility of parenting. He has no idea how to be a parent because growing up he never had any 'parental figures' until well into his mid-teens. A lot of people seem to have taken offence to the moment Harry said "sometimes I wish you weren't my son". Plenty of parents have had arguments with their children like this. Harry has always been stubborn and had quite an explosive temper where he does and says things that he doesn't mean to the people he loves, and Albus appears to have very similar traits to Harry. Their personalities are so similar. But despite this, Harry has always tried his best and that's just who Harry was, and still is. Sometimes human beings do say terrible things when they feel lost and confused about how to handle a situation, and they later come to regret these words. We see that Harry quickly realises he was wrong to say what he did and tries to reconcile with Albus. I liked seeing that vulnerability and a very realistic interpretation of a troubled parent/child relationship. ϟ The reinforcement of how important the character of Neville Longbottom is made my day. In the alternate world where Voldemort had won the Battle of Hogwarts, it is stated that this was only possible because Neville was killed, meaning he couldn't kill Nagini (one of the horcruxes). So there you have it, Neville Longbottom saved the day. ϟ And finally, I love the fact that Draco called his son Scorpius. I can just imagine him really pondering over a name that sounded incredibly fierce... and then Scorpius turns out to be the biggest ball of fluff ever. |
In conclusion, I don't think the main plot of the play was an absolute work of genius, however, the way the characters are written certainly makes up for that. Plus, as I said at the beginning, this is a play and I refuse to judge a play by its text alone. I have heard wonderful things about the technical side of this play. It's suppose to be a visually stunning piece of work. I was lucky enough to grab some tickets in the last release and will be finally going to see it in November 2017. By then, I'm assuming some of the original cast may have left, but I am still super excited to see the words brought to life by live actors!
I think its very telling that the harshest critics of the play are all people who have only read it, whereas I have yet to find someone who has been lucky enough to it performed live call it anything other than spectacular. I would recommend this to any Harry Potter fan. Don't be put off by the negative reviews! I have read a lot of these negative reviews and many of them seem to be disregarding the fact that they are indeed reading a play. If you go into reading something with your view already distorted by negativity, you will struggle to enjoy it and see the good things about it. So please try and throw away your pre-conceived notions about this script. Cursed Child is far from the best play I've ever read, however it is a thrilling new page-turner to add to the Harry Potter collection. Once you start reading it you won't be able to put it down!
If you disagree or agree with anything I have said above I would love to hear about it so comment below, or find me on social media! I would love to discuss this further :)
I think its very telling that the harshest critics of the play are all people who have only read it, whereas I have yet to find someone who has been lucky enough to it performed live call it anything other than spectacular. I would recommend this to any Harry Potter fan. Don't be put off by the negative reviews! I have read a lot of these negative reviews and many of them seem to be disregarding the fact that they are indeed reading a play. If you go into reading something with your view already distorted by negativity, you will struggle to enjoy it and see the good things about it. So please try and throw away your pre-conceived notions about this script. Cursed Child is far from the best play I've ever read, however it is a thrilling new page-turner to add to the Harry Potter collection. Once you start reading it you won't be able to put it down!
If you disagree or agree with anything I have said above I would love to hear about it so comment below, or find me on social media! I would love to discuss this further :)