We are hurtling towards the opening gala performances of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two at a rate of knots, and it’s time to celebrate the play’s journey to the stage.
In the coming weeks, Pottermore will go behind the scenes of the play with members of the cast and creative team to learn more about how this remarkable production was put together.
Today we take a closer look at the imaginative and unique set design of the play, as shaped by Tony Award-winning set designer Christine Jones.
Christine admitted the task of taking on something as huge as the eighth Harry Potter story was very emotional, especially when seeing the vast set coming together.
‘I was overwhelmed,’ Christine told us. ‘I didn’t expect to get as emotional as I did. But I think we all have been working on this for over a year and just have so much invested in it.’
‘There’s just this feeling that we’re working with people we love, on something we love, for people we love. And there’s a lot of emotions that have become buried within the fabric on the making of this.’
Christine has worked on other West End hit shows including Close to You, Spring Awakening and Let the Right One In, latterly with Cursed Child collaborators Jack Thorne, Steven Hoggett and John Tiffany.
In a new video from the Cursed Child production team, we see more of the imaginative designs bringing the play to life. The details both onstage and off are brimming with Hogwarts history. Take a look:
A few of the details have been hinted at in the Palace Theatre's front of house. Anyone who’s walked past the Palace Theatre in London will probably recognise that the hand-carved lantern-holders also have their place on the Cursed Child set .
It couldn’t be a Harry Potter story without Hogwarts. From the moment we see the rich wooden panelling around the walls of the stage, and the Palace Theatre auditorium’s wallpaper – emblazoned with a triumphant ‘H’ and Sword of Gryffindor motif – it’s clear that the school plays a prominent role in the story.
The production revealed last week that a line from Thomas Wolfe’s You Can't Go Home Again (1940) inspired the look and feel of the stage play:
A Thomas Wolfe quote inspired this set; ‘Few buildings are vast enough to hold the sound of time’ #CursedChild pic.twitter.com/nG1ovKwl2y
— Harry Potter Play (@HPPlayLDN) 29 June 2016
From what we’ve seen of Christine’s set designs, they’re rich in symbolism and full of detail. We especially love that across the proscenium arch of the theatre you can see the cycles of the moon worked in metal.
Although the video only gives us blink-and-you’ll-miss-them glimpses, Christine’s creations already look exceptionally beautiful. See what other little titbits you can spot.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two is a new play by Jack Thorne based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. It is the eighth Harry Potter story and the first official story to be presented on stage. The play opens at the Palace Theatre on Saturday 30 July.
