Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

After the show was put on hold in Melbourne due to the coronavirus lockdowns, I felt incredibly fortunate to be among the first to see the reopened Harry Potter and the Cursed Child show.

And despite the anticipation and having been told how much I was going to enjoy it by people who had seen it before the lockdowns, it did not disappoint. Not one tiny bit.

I travelled on the train with my 10-year-old Potter mad son. On the way we visited the Bourke Street Myer where there is a Harry Potter shop in the basement. Yes, we’re both a little bit obsessed. We had both read the entire series the year before, so were as excited as each other to see the show.

The first installment was just after lunch, and as the stage came to life at with travelers rushing through King’s Cross Station, my heart swelled at the familiarity of the scene I had imagined while reading the book.

It was also wonderful to see all of our favourite characters brought to life on the stage.

From the very first scene, the special effects were excellent, and surprising.

The first part of the show finished in a dramatic (and frightening!) way that only made us look forward to the second part more.

In between shows we strolled through some local bookstores, where my son chose an Artemis Fowl book, and had dinner at a local Indian restaurant, followed by ice cream in Spring St, next to the Princess Theatre.

I sat on my seat for the second installment feeling a little sad that it was almost all over, while also dying to find out what happened next.

I don’t want to give anything away other than to say I LOVED IT. I loved the characters, the costumes, the effects and the stories. All of the cleverness of JK Rowling’s books were on display in the stage show, which wasn’t boring for a minute.

My son was a big fan of the humour sprinkled throughout the show, but he also got a lot from the more sentimental moments.

A fellow resident of my university college played Draco Malfoy and he was fabulous, as were all of the stars.

I would love to see this show again, so I am encouraging my daughter to read the books so that I have another excuse. Fingers crossed!