Potion-making is a notoriously tricky craft. One dash of the wrong ingredient and you may well make someone incendiary instead of invisible.
Perhaps it should come as no surprise, then, that it took the creators of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” a second try to perfect their theatrical brew. The breathtaking new version of the wizard juggernaut moves as fast and furious as the Hogwarts Express, casting a thoroughly intoxicating spell on children, parents, and muggles alike.
If the original two-part marathon version of the show, which debuted in London in 2016 and was playing in San Francisco when the pandemic hit, felt saddled by draggy exposition, the new iteration feels bolder and braver, confident in its power to charm and dazzle even those of us who don’t know floo powder from chocolate frogs. From the first ballet of wands to the last explosive fireball, the sorcery of “Cursed Child” bewitches the audience.
This time Steven Hoggett’s mesmerizing movement and John Tiffany’s muscular direction capture not only the thrills of J.K. Rowling’s canon but also its big heart. My daughter Daphne, 11, a Potter-head from way back, was initially uncertain that the play could ever live up to her idolatry, having read the books and watched the movies so many times over that she knows most of it by heart. Still, it took about three minutes into the show before she was gasping and giggling with delight for the next 3½ hours.
The secret to Jack Thorne’s new adaptation is perhaps its streamlined nature. Cutting away anything that doesn’t fuel the narrative leaves us with a tale of universal emotional richness, a story of fathers estranged from sons, teens grasping for identity and a society stupidly turning a blind eye to its own corruption.
This epilogue takes place 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts (where the books and movies left off). Long the toast of the wizarding world, Harry Potter (played by John Skelley) sends his son Albus (Benjamin Papac) off to Hogwarts with high hopes that are dashed when the boy turns out to be a bit of a wallflower. He is not a natural at magic and his only friend is Scorpius Malfoy (Jon Steiger) the son of Harry’s old nemesis Draco (Lucas Hall). Steiger nearly steals the show with his sensitive turn as an alienated youth. The young actor’s comic timing is as smooth as butterbeer.
Emotional vulnerability is what grounds all the high-tech spectacle in something meaningful and true. Skelley beautifully captures the angst of parenthood, a father struggling to understand his son even while reckoning with his own childhood grief.
The new script transforms what used to be a byzantine plot of time travel adventures, tragic origin stories, assorted love interests, and fandom easter eggs into a narrative that’s as intimate as it is epic.
The quiet moments hit as hard as the high-flying special effects, which include a round of mid-air dueling between Harry and Draco, an imaginative onstage lake and a rather wild romp with Polyjuice potion.
Of course some of most magical stagecraft is also the most simple. Imagine a cart of suitcases standing in for a speeding train, or wraith-like puppets sweeping down from the ceiling to dangle mere inches above your head.
Daphne, for her part, seemed most delighted at the moments of light comedy woven throughout this dark world of dungeons and dragons. She laughed so long, hard and loudly at some scenes, such as Moaning Myrtle’s vamping in the girl’s bathroom, that I had to resist the urge to shush her a little. The mommy in me was tickled that she loved the show, of course, but the theater critic worried a tad about decorum.
Etiquette lost out to glee in the end and it was a truly memorable afternoon for mother and daughter, a theatrical bonding experience visceral enough to make us forget about the rigamarole of the pandemic era, the masks and lines and QR codes, and remember just how magical live performance can be.
Contact Karen D’Souza at karenpdsouza@yahoo.com.
‘Harry Potter AND THE ‘CURSED CHILD’
By Jack Thorne, working on an original story by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Thorne, based on the series by Rowling
Through: Sept. 4
Where: The Curran, 445 Geary St., San Francisco
Health safety: Attendees 12 and over must have proof of vaccination and booster, those under 12 must have proof of negative COVID test, ticketholders are asked to wear masks inside the theater
Running time: 3 hours, 35 minutes, one intermission
Tickets: $69-$329 (subject to change); sf.harrypottertheplay.com, sfcurran.com
