Harry Potter And
The Cursed Child Part 1 & Part 2 review
There aren't any
spoilers, don't worry!
I waited a whole
year to see this show! My Taiwanese lover managed to log into some kind of
online ticket queue in 2017 at just the right moment and we got tickets for
just 30 pounds (for both parts 1 and 2). The seats however, were on the 4th
level of the theater. The price is right, and we had to wait until August 2018.
I wasn't even sure what to expect. I am not usually someone to want to watch
long shows, let alone TWO LONG SHOWS. How good can it possibly be? But I had an
open mind and since I was already familiar with the characters in the movies,
it should be an easy play to start watching.
And it was. Both
shows that we watched were in the evening. One evening followed by another
evening. I highly recommend this sequence. It's also possible to see both parts
on the same day (afternoon + evening) but I think I would be too tired for
that. And the advantage of seeing the parts on subsequent nights, is that you
have something like a cliffhanger to look forward to resolving on the second
day. A day of anticipation and excitement before going into see part 2.
Basically from
the get-go, I could follow the plot in Part 1 immediately. I have to admit that
before going into the show, I watched recap clips of all the Harry Potter
movies. I was ready. We went up the the fourth floor balcony, and the view was
pretty good actually. I could hear everything perfectly. There were little
opera glasses that can be rented for a pound in the seats, so I tried it during
part 1 and it helped a little but I decided that it wasn't worth the 1 pound
and skipped them for part 2. Basically I could see everything just fine. As
long as you have good vision, you'll be find even on the fourth level.
So what is my
verdict on the show itself? I will give it an A! This was just great! It has
been a very long time since I've had such great anticipation going into Part 2
of anything in a very long time. The second day, before Part 2, I was excited
and happy all day because I just had to know what the ending would be. I didn't
even find the shows to be long. I was savoring every moment. I'll tell you why.
Firstly, I liked the way they did magic on the set! I've been to Vegas and I've
seen David Copperfield. So I've seen magic tricks before. But here, the magic
tricks are woven into the plot. I wouldn't say that they are really
sophisticated tricks, but they are just delightful because they are sprinkled
throughout both shows in a very nice way, converting both plays into little
magic shows too. Sometimes I felt myself wondering "How did they do
that?" when people appeared and disappeared [ok, there must be trapdoors
in the stage], when sparks flew from wands, etc. I loved how they did set
changes, and I loved the makeup and costumes!
I don't want to
spoil the plot for you, but I can say that all of the very best parts of Harry
Potter that I liked from the movies and books, I liked in this play too. They
have wands, potions, talking paintings, Hogwarts, time turning, good and bad
witches and wizards, and even Dumbledore and Hagrid make appearances. You'll
get to see all of your favorite characters! I wasn't disappointed at all.
During Part 1, I drank a Camden Ale, and then after the intermission I switched
to a Lager. That kept me focused! During Part 2, I drank a Camden Ale, and then
sparkling water. During the intermission, I had dark chocolate with sea salt, a
small snack that you can buy from Pret a Manger. I highly recommend this
combination! Many people drank champagne too which looked fun, but I decided
that for Harry Potter, a beer would be more suitable and I think I was right
about that.
The theater
looks medieval and was just perfect for this play. And before the show, there
are some very nice shops that you can browse nearby, for example, the Forbidden
Planet comic shop and three or four antiquarian bookstores are just nearby.
Doing some book browsing, followed by a nice dinner of Japanese Ramen (it was
good too!), followed by fantastic shows! Oh, and when you walk from the theater
back to Tottenham Court Road, there is a very nice kebab place just before the
entry to the tube station. A perfect way to end the night.
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