West End play, Harry Potter and the Cursed
Child will
be a sequel, following on from the epilogue to the seventh book,
which sees Harry, Ron and Hermione’s own children heading to Hogwarts.
The
eponymous cursed child is revealed to be Albus Severus Potter, Harry and
Ginny’s son. The original epilogue centres around Albus, or
Al, as he nervously leaves for school for the first time on the
Hogwarts Express. The full synopsis released by the play's creative team on Potter more explains:
"It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much
easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a
husband and father of three school-age children.
"While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where
it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family
legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son
learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected
places.
"This suggests that the play will continue some of the concerns of the
epilogue, which describes an anxious Albus. Worried he will be sorted in
to Slytherin, the Hogwarts house notorious for producing wizards with dark
tendencies, he turns to his father for advice:
“What if I’m in Slytherin?”
The whisper was for his father alone, and Harry knew that only the
moment of departure could have forced Albus to reveal how great and sincere
that fear was.
Harry crouched down so that Albus’;s face was slightly above his
own. Alone of Harry’s three children, Albus had inherited Lily’s eyes.
“Albus Severus,” Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny
could hear, and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to rose, who was
now on the train, “you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them
was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.”
“But just say--”
“--then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student,
won’t it? It doesn’t matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you’ll be able
to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into
account.”
“Really?”
“It did for me,” said Harry.
He had never told any of his children that before, and he saw the
wonder in Albus’s face when he said it.
By choosing
to focus on Albus and the potential for “darkness” that may lie inside
him, it seems the play will explore some of the series’ most overarching themes
of inheritance, free will versus fate, the possibility to choose a life of
good or evil, and the power of familial love.
“When I asked
if there would be any flashbacks to Harry’s own parents, Friedman said, more
bluntly: ‘It’s for theatregoers and fans, and we’re not going to say any more
about the story.’”
The poster,
which was unveiled for the first time today, describes the play as “the eighth
story” set “nineteen years later”.
Back in June, fans speculated that the new play
would pick up where the epilogue left off. At the time the new play was
announced, Rowling noted that Harry
Potter and the Philospher's Stone was released 18 years ago to the day, and
that the new play would be released next year: 19 years later. “19 Years
Later”, of course, is also the name of the final Harry Potter chapter.
The new play
is partly written by Jack Thorne, who has a history of writing sensitively
about teenagers and young adults in difficult or lonely situations.
“I tended to be the nerdy kid stood at the back, watching other people having
fun. You just plug into what that felt like.” He acknowledged that
“loneliness and isolation” are themes he returns to again and again: “There
tends to be a weird lonely boy, or girl, at the centre of the story somewhere.”
Source: newstatesman.com
