Screenplay
Arthur A. Levine Books
July 31, 2016
Hardcover
336

The Eighth Story. Nineteen Years Later. Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne, a new play by Jack Thorne, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London's West End on July 30, 2016. 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 Special Rehearsal Edition will be available to purchase until early 2017, after which a Definitive Edition of the script will go on sale.
WrensReads Review:
So I read this in about twenty-four hours. Not because I am a fast reader (though that is true), but because this is written as a script and not an actual book.
I need everyone who has been living under a rock and doesn’t know already to know that this is, in fact, a script for a stage-show. If you go into it thinking that, it will not disappoint you.
I was a theater kid, and quite honestly I still am. And I really, REALLY REALLY want to see this come to life. It was just as magical as the books and more magical than the show.
Albus, Harry’s middle son, is going to Hogwarts and is not very happy about it. He knows that he has a legacy to live up to and frankly he doesn’t feel like living up to it. He’s worried about being put into Slytherin; when his fears come reality, he becomes an moody teenager and doesn’t get along with his father at all (especially when he becomes best friends with Scorpius Malfoy who is rumored to actually have been fathered by Voldemort himself).
When it comes to Albus’ attention that someone died so his father could live, he does a lot of illegal things and ends up with a time-turner (objects that has been destroyed) to right the wrong done to the someone who died.
And he makes the world they live in completely different and run by Death Eaters.
So how can he make this right? Is the Malfoy family behind this? Who is Scorpius’ father?
I love this addition to the story of Harry Potter and I think it is perfect for a play and honestly a wonderful way to revisit the world of JK Rowling’s making. I would have loved it as a written book as well, don’t get me wrong, but now JK Rowling has helped make a movie, wrote a book, designed a theme park AND NOW HAS HELPED WRITE A PLAY. I mean, what can’t this woman do?
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