As Hogpro readers know, the book that was waited for with such fanfare was the “rehearsal script” of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Changes may have already been made to the current version playing in London, and more will undoubtedly come about before the next big premiere, presumably in a year or two, on Broadway.
If I was a producer, there are multiple points I’d take out and at least three I’d add.
Parts to Reducto:
Swearing by Dumbledore’s name. If there is one thing all parties should agree on, 20-odd years after the battle of Hogwarts, it was that Dumbledore, no matter how respected, was an imperfect and highly flawed man. There is no way Harry’s family, or anyone else in the wizarding world, would be evoking his name as if he were some sort of canonized saint. And if one of his portraits overheard it, he’d tell them to knock it off; it’s the last thing in the world our dear departed Headmaster would want. He has only been deceased for twenty years or so; tt would be like a Republicans today walking around saying “Oh, thank Reagan the rain has stopped.” Besides, in the book epilogue, Ron said to Rose, “Thank God you’ve got your mother’s brains.” Not, “Thank Dumbledore you have your mother’s brains.” In short, there is no precedence for any witch or wizard to do this, so the script should lose it immediately.
Sappy relationship conversations. Part of what was great about the original 7 books is that people our Trio did not spend a lot of time discussing their friendship. We knew how much Ron and Hermione meant to Harry when he rescues them from the Black Lake, or uses his memories of them to summon his Patronus. Too often, the play drifts into sappy conversations rather than simply showing how strong a relationship is. The dialogue between Scorpius and Albus, for instances, has led multiple readers to speculate that they are “more than friends,” even though both clearly have crushes on girls.
A particularly bad example is Act 4, Scene 4, when Harry has the long chat with Dumbledore’s portrait, and yells at him for leaving him at Privet Drive, and his various other failings. Then they (figuratively) kiss and make up and tell each other how much they loved each other. That seemed out of place, especially after McGonagall had already reminded him (and us!), the portrait isn’t Dumbledore, it’s a shadow of Dumbledore, paint and memory. Harry should have made his peace with Dumbledore, and what he did and didn’t do for him back at King’s Cross. Rehashing all that with a painting, 22 years later, when he should be focusing on making peace with his son was a pointless distraction. Besides, Harry would never address the painting as “Dumbledore”— we’ve never seen him call his Headmaster anything but “Professor” to his face. Read More “Cursed Child: Three Accio’s and a Whole Bunch of Reducto’s.”
