Harry Potter and the Cursed Child North American tour. Photo by Evan Zimmerman

Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling ended her epic seven-volume series of novels with a tantalizing teaser: an epilogue titled “Nineteen Years Later,” in which Harry and his friends Hermione and Ron, now grown, are preparing to send their children off to school at Hogwarts. That brief chapter inspired the spectacular stage production, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, now embarking on its first national tour. Jack Thorne’s Tony Award-winning play, based on an original story by Rowling, Thorne, and director John Tiffany, takes audiences on an unforgettable adventure in which two generations travel through time to save the wizarding world.  

Packed with secrets and surprises, Cursed Child centers on young Albus Potter (the middle child of Harry and his wife, Ginny) and Scorpius Malfoy (son of Harry’s rival Draco Malfoy), both of whom feel burdened by the legacy of their fathers. Meanwhile, Harry, now working alongside Hermione in the Ministry of Magic, must come to terms with his childhood trauma as new dangers threaten his family and community.  

In expanding the Potter universe, Thorne, Tiffany, and their creative collaborators seamlessly blend movement, magic, and good old-fashioned storytelling. “Things happen in front of you, and you will not be able to understand how they happened,” Thorne says of the play, which also won Tony Awards for Tiffany’s direction and for scenic design, costume design, lighting design, and sound design. “People disappear and other people appear in their place; brilliant illusions unfold. John and I wanted to harness fantastical elements you wouldn’t assume would be part of a Harry Potter story to show people what live theater is capable of.”  

Tiffany had a clear vision of the show from the beginning. “I’ve always had the sense that Hogwarts was a world that belonged on stage,” he says. “I could see suitcases floating and cloaks whirling; arches and columns that could become trees in the forbidden forest. What’s amazing about the fantasy world of Harry Potter is that it allows you to explore the human experience in a magnified and dramatic way.”  

Indeed, as they crafted a magic-filled narrative with Rowling’s input and encouragement, Thorne and Tiffany never lost sight of the story’s humanity. “There were two things I was interested in conveying,” the playwright says. “The first was what it’s like to go to Hogwarts when you don’t fit in, because I was a person who struggled in school. I’m drawn to outsiders, and so are John and Jo [Rowling]. The other was the notion of what it means to be put in an uncomfortable place. What would happen if one of Harry’s kids ended up in a house [at Hogwarts] where he thought he didn’t belong, and then discovered through friendship that he did?”  

Similarly, Tiffany wanted to explore how young people deal with the flaws and failings of their parents. “There’s a fury in Albus from feeling isolated and misunderstood,” the director explains. “At one point, he experiences an unforgiveable rejection by his dad, and when I read that moment in Jack’s script, I thought, ‘Now we’ve got a play!” Adds Thorne, “It’s about Harry learning how to be a good father — that’s the biggest emotional journey in the show.”  

Just as J.K. Rowling’s novels appeal to readers of all ages, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has attracted an enthusiastic and diverse fan base.

“We wanted to write the play for people who love Harry Potter and people who don’t know Harry Potter at all; for people who are nine years old or 85 years old. We wanted to include everyone, because that’s what the books do: You can be any age and feel enchanted by them, and we hope the play does the same.”  — Jack Throne

Thorne’s Cursed Child journey took a wonderfully personal turn recently when he watched a performance alongside his eight-year-old son, Elliott, who was born a month before the original production opened in London. “We had read the books aloud together, and I was amazed to rediscover what a brilliant storyteller Jo is,” he says of Rowling. “And then watching Elliott see the magic unfold on stage was glorious.”  

The touring production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child includes all the breathtaking effects and stunning staging that helped make the play an international hit, attracting huge numbers of first-time theatergoers. “The magic will be there,” promises Tiffany, “and we’re excited to bring the show to as many people as possible. We feel a responsibility to do justice not just to Harry Potter but to theater as an art form. We want this play to be like nothing anyone has ever experienced.”  

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