I’m not going to do my usual style of review for this, as this review is more of the play, which I saw in December, and then read the book afterwards. I’m not going to rate it, because if I’m honest, I’d rather just forget it exists.
First of all, I’ll say that I did enjoy the play. My review might make it sound like I thought otherwise, but the play was good as a whole entity, I just had a lot of issues with the plot.
Before I went, I avoided all spoilers, all reviews, even casual tweets or comments about it. I was very disiplined and managed to go into it without any expectations at all. Afterwards, of course, I did read the reviews and found people had the same opinions as me.
The play, as a play, was pretty incredible. The magic was magical, the sets and costumes, the acting and all that was brilliant. I wasn’t sure about the Imogen Heap music, but whatever. The story, however, was the most ridiculous story I’ve ever encountered. I’ll try not to use many spoilers, but the character of Delphi was just unbelievably ridiculous. She created so many plot holes, the main one being HOW ON EARTH CAN VOLDEMORT HAVE A CHILD!? I’ll just leave that there.
Other than that unbelievable plot device, the whole thing felt like fan fiction. Goblet of Fire fan fiction more than anything. Although I quite liked Scorpius, everyone else was just a caricature of their real (book) selves, particularly Ron who was reduced to a bumbling idiot mess with no substance at all. It all just felt unnecessary, and to be honest, as a massive Harry Potter fan, I’d rather just forget it ever happened. It doesn’t feel like J K Rowling actually had anything to do with it, despite her name being on the cover.
I was so excited to see this, having bought tickets 18 months in advance, and really tried to love it. My sister and I sat in a nearby restaurant between parts and exclaimed ‘I think the second part will be better’, without wanting to admit our disappointment. We were both relieved when we finally read all the other reviews and articles afterwards, to find that we weren’t alone.
Perhaps minor, casual Harry Potter fans would enjoy this, but I certainly didn’t.
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