Katherine C-W

Positives: -Amazing staging and special effects -Some humour when it wasn’t cringe -Some fun reveals and plot twists -Some good performances - notably Myrtle, Snape and Scorpius Negatives: -Characters were unrecognisable as those we have come to know and love over 7 books and movies - Ron was portrayed as a more stupid version of Mr Weasley (same voice and appearance) doing nothing but crack extremely unfunny jokes, showing he was incompetent and talking about being drunk at his own wedding - Hermione was one dimensional and spoke in a booming, domineering tone throughout (her character was similar to the start of book 1 before any character development) - Harry was nothing like the Harry we know from the books- he was selfish, arrogant/braggy, completely lacking in empathy and told his own son unforgivable things the real Harry would never say, he also spoke disrespectfully to Dumbledore, McGonagall and Ginny. -New characters were unlikeable and over the top eg. Albus acted like a brat and seemed to have few redeeming character traits, Rose was a tiresome bossy girl, Scorpius was often over the top and given cringey lines eg. exclamations like ‘Wazoo’ that made you feel you were watching Teletubbies or similar, Delfini had very little character development and was one dimensional. -Many characters we we would expect to see eg. Rest of the Weasleys, Teddy Tonks were notably absent -The magic and humour of JK’s writing was totally missing- humour was predominantly slapstick eg. Ron’s bumbling or very childish eg. Scorpius saying ‘Wazoo’ in a squeaky voice. Little of the wit and joy of the original books and their humour seemed to filter through. -Lines were often not well-written or exciting so it became quite dull at times sitting through yet another ministry scene with the main characters standing up on the stairs SPOILERS -There were gaping plot holes eg. All time turners were previously destroyed in Book 5 and not only do they find one but they miraculously discover a second one conveniently just when they need to save the children as a ridiculously transparent deus ex machina. -In no reality would Cedric (given his kind and caring previous character) turn into a deatheater after being embarrassed on one occasion. -Bellatrix had no time frame to be pregnant and give birth before the battle of Hogwarts and Voldemort did not seem to have human urges enough to be interested in being with her that way! He certainly wasn’t capable of love. -The relationship between Scorpius and Albus was clearly hinted at being romantic but then at the end he asks out Rose- confusing! This blossoming relationship between the two boys at times seemed to distract from the main plot. -The same props (suitcases) and staircases were overused time and time again so by the end of the play it became a bit boring to see them being used yet again. -Some performances faltered a bit so that it became noticeable to the audience (Hermione’s actress and Amos’ actor) Overall, it was a fun day at the theatre with magical special effects but because of the problems with the script and characterisation outlined above I will not be considering this canon and will prefer to see it as a separate story.