Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

by Jack Thorne

seen at the Palace Theatre on 28 November 2018

JohnTiffany directs this two part play based on 'an original new story' by J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and himself, which deals with events immediately following the epilogue of the last Harry Potter book - that is, events in the lives of Harry's children and their peers. As the plays have been running for some time now, the original London cast is no longer in action. Harry Potter is played by Jamie Ballard, Ginny Potter by Susie Trayling, Hermione Granger by Franc Ashman, Ron Weasley by Thomas Aldridge and Draco Malfoy by James Howard. In the younger generation, Albus Potter is played by Joe Idris-Roberts, Rose Granger-Weasey by Helen Aluko, Scorpius Malfoy by Jonathan Case and Delphi Diggory by Eve Ponsonby. The production is designed by Christine Jones.

At first, given this time frame and the initial scene-setting of a new generation attending the Hogwarts school, it seems as if the play might be misleadingly named, but later Harry's own participation and predicament receives more attention. In fact, even the earlier scenes are only tangentially reviving audience memories of Hogwarts, as attention focuses on the difficulties youngsters may have being the progeny of famous (or notorious) parents. The increasing richness of the play lies in showing this dilemma from both sides: the anguish and the uncertainty of the parents - really, more specifically, of the fathers Harry and Draco, are just as sympathetically portrayed as the rebellion and frustration of the sons (it has to be said that Rose, the child of the Granger Weasley marriage, is not a particular focus of attention).

The Glass Menagerie

by Tennessee Williams

seen at the Duke of York's Theatre on 15 April 2017

John Tiffany directs Cherry Jones as Amanda, Kate O'Flynn as Laura, Michael Esper as Tom and Brian J Smith as Jim in this excellent revival of Tennessee Williams's 'memory play'.

As the play is narrated by Tom, an aspiring poet (who may be seen as a stand-in for the author) we may expect it to be about his own struggle to escape the suffocating atmosphere of his family, and in particular of his over-bearing mother Amanda. She indeed manages the faded hopes of her life by keeping up appearances and talking, talking, talking in a way that would infuriate any young man with any strength of character. Cherry Jones portrays this difficult and at times infuriating woman with immense authority and dignity, which makes her power all the more pervasive, while Michael Esper as Tom shows us something of the strain of living up to such a mother's standards.