'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' is simply magical in London
Chris Jones
Harrry Potter, now 37 years old and perpetually stressed out, stands with his wife, the former Ginny Weasley, at Platform Nine at King's Cross station. His kids are going off to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The cheery Granger-Weasley clan is there too. But Harry stares witheringly at Albus, his younger son who seems strangely reluctant to cross over to Platform 93/4, which is the only way anyone can get to Hogwarts. Unless you're sitting in the Palace Theatre in London for “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” the stunning, six-hour, two-part, densely plotted, maniacally detailed, utterly J.K. Rowling-esque, thrillingly and theatrically wrought sequel to the “Harry Potter” series that has the global Potter universe curious, consumed and terrified of disappointment.
Harry is surely disappointed with his son, who was named in memory of Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape, two former Hogwarts headmasters of great import to his dad-seeking dad. Albus is desperately trying to live down all the pressures of a celebrity father. In a few minutes, the cute bespectacled kid who charmed the children and parents of the 1990s, and who now is played by the fine actor Jamie Parker, who looks like a menacing Stephen Colbert, will commit the ultimate mistake for a father.
He'll tell Albus that he wishes he were not his son.
He will not find it easy to take that back. Albus will not find it easy to come back.