Harry Potter on Stage

The screenplay for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has finally made it to print. With all the hype that surrounds Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling's wizarding world, I was hesitant to read it. Don't get me wrong! I absolutely love Harry Potter...I used to devour the books when they came out. I even went to a midnight release for the 7th book. However, I've never been the type of person to get into a fandom or become a fanatic. But I thought I'd give it a chance and find out what happens in the next chapter of the Harry Potter saga.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

I'm gonna try to make sure that I don't include spoilers...but no guarantees! This story is set 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry now has a family and struggles to have a relationship with one of his teenage sons, Albus. Albus has to deal with the legacy that his family has left for him and face the future as well as the past.

I thoroughly enjoyed this sequel. The writing style, of course, is a little different from J.K. Rowling's original series because this script was a collaboration between J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne. I also enjoyed the fact that they printed it as a play. For some people that might take some getting used to...but I thought it was good practice for my Shakespeare class that starts in a few weeks. I hope that someday I will be able to see the play in person...or who knows, maybe they'll turn it into a film!

I can see how this might be seen as an attempt to push the Harry Potter vibe into the next generation. Albus Severus Potter gets sucked into adventures just like his father did. He has his friends who help and support him and he eventually finds himself in over his head. We get to see Harry, Ron, Hermione, and even Draco get involved in the action. So we get a few new characters as well as the old. There are some pretty interesting plot twists that make this story just as interesting as any of the other seven books. I thought that by the end I'd be disappointed with the plot or the characters...But I felt that the old characters had returned and the new characters were refreshing and well-developed. 

A lot of people have already read this book but if you haven't, I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy of it! Whether you end up loving it or are just more knowledgeable about what all the hype is about.