Hogwarts is coming to Broadway

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is coming to Broadway in 2018. Fair warning to all you die hard J.K Rowling fans, she did NOT write it. However, it did receive her approval. It is so refreshing to visit the characters in the Potterverse again to see what they are up to. I know J.K. Rowling started Pottermore as a way for fans to stay connected to the Wizarding world, but it’s just not the same. Through the Cursed Child we learn that Hermione is Minister of Magic. Ron works at the joke shop. Harry works in the Ministry.  At finally, Draco is still Draco.  The plot centers on Harry’s youngest son, Albus, and his time at Hogwarts.  It hits you with several curveballs.

The son of the Chosen One is a Slytherin.

His best friend is none other than, Scorpius Malfoy.

This is not explicitly stated, but it is obvious from their interactions. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

With all of this drama, you would think this is the best screenplay ever, right? Wrong. It is inconsistent with J.K. Rowling’s original series.  I have already revealed a lot, so I won’t go into too many details with the character deviations and the inconsistencies of the play, but the central plot revolves around time travel. Rowling stated the limitations of time turners and why she had them destroyed in an article on Pottermore.  Time turners can only go back in time for five hours, but in this play Albus and Scorpius travel back more than twenty years in the past. I realize she did not write the screenplay, but it did meet her approval.  If you’re going to set rules for a universe, then anything that is approved should adhere to the laws in that universe.  Also, as she said herself, “I went far too light-heartedly into the subject of time travel in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. While I do not regret it (Prisoner of Azkaban is one of my favorite books in the series), it opened up a vast number of problems for me, because after all, if wizards could go back and undo problems, where were my future plots?” 

Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange have a love child.

Albus and Scorpius are more than friends

This is not explicitly stated, but it is obvious from their interactions. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

With all of this drama, you would think this is the best screenplay ever, right? Wrong. It is inconsistent with J.K. Rowling’s original series.  I have already revealed a lot, so I won’t go into too many details with the character deviations and the inconsistencies of the play, but the central plot revolves around time travel. Rowling stated the limitations of time turners and why she had them destroyed in an article on Pottermore.  Time turners can only go back in time for five hours, but in this play Albus and Scorpius travel back more than twenty years in the past. I realize she did not write the screenplay, but it did meet her approval.  If you’re going to set rules for a universe, then anything that is approved should adhere to the laws in that universe.  Also, as she said herself, “I went far too light-heartedly into the subject of time travel in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. While I do not regret it (Prisoner of Azkaban is one of my favorite books in the series), it opened up a vast number of problems for me, because after all, if wizards could go back and undo problems, where were my future plots?” 

Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange have a love child.

Albus and Scorpius are more than friends.

Then she approves a play where time travel is the central plot. Where is Naruto Uzamaki when we need him?

I give it 2.5 stars. If  you forget most of the information previously stated in the Harry Potter series, then you should be fine and the ranking increases by one half of a star.