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Hogwarts fans arrived at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre on Thursday in full uniform, flaunting robes and wands in celebration of the one-year anniversary of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.”
The event came a day after the City of Toronto officially proclaimed May 31 Live Theatre Day. City Councillor Gary Crawford kicked off the afternoon reading a statement on behalf of council and Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie.
“Theatre comes from the Greek word meaning places for seeing and, with the help of theatre production and art history, they transport us to different worlds where stories are brought to life,” he said.
“In Toronto, we are blessed to have a wide selection of live theatre shows that offer something for everyone … Thank you to the talented artists and everyone involved in live theatre who help ensure that the show can and must go on for our residents and all theatre enthusiasts.”
Local artists from NExT, a Black youth mentorship program run by the Ontario charity VIBE Arts in partnership with the theatre, got a chance to showcase their “Harry Potter”-inspired art installations.
The raw materials were promotional items that had been printed as work was to begin on the technically complex “Cursed Child” just days before the first 2020 pandemic lockdown. They included 50,000 bookmarks, approximately 10,000 for each of the four “houses” of the story’s Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Repurposing the bookmarks as well as materials such as water bottles, felt, papier mâché and glass, the four artists made statues: a lion, a snake, an eagle and a portrayal of Harry Potter himself.
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” will run until July 2. By the time the curtain closes for the final time, the show will have been performed 425 times, which Mirvish Productions says is a record for a Canadian professional theatre production.
The play has been seen so far by more than 500,000 attendees, over half of whom had never seen a theatre production before, according to Trevor White, who plays Harry Potter.
In a panel discussion alongside fellow actors moderated by film critic Richard Crouse, White said that while he had never read the books or watched the movies before being cast, he now has a great appreciation for the story and its multi-generational impact on fans.
“It’s got heart. It’s got real people. It has an incredible story and unbelievable magic,” White said.
“I also think it’s been very brave of this production to not just retell the story that you know from the books … it’s a whole new story 20 years later with new characters and a lot of beloved characters, and that’s why people keep coming back.”
The story revolves around Harry Potter’s headstrong son Albus, who befriends the son of Harry’s fiercest rival, Draco Malfoy.
Co-star Luke Kimball, who plays Albus, touched on the message of the show and who the “cursed child” is.
“It’s the curse of the reputation of Harry Potter and what that has done to fracture the relationship of these two people that really do love each other … these people want to find a way to have a functional relationship and this play is them battling that curse,” said Kimball.
“I think it is about love. In terms of Harry’s journey in the show, at the beginning of the play, Harry’s been through so much trauma in the stories previous to this and wasn’t able to have a normal childhood … and has gone into parenthood kind of blind,” White added.
“It’s about loving yourself and therefore being more capable of loving your own child.”
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