From November 14th through the 16th, the Washington Township High School Way-Off Broadway Players put on three shows of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The story is centered around Harry Potter’s son, Albus, who attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry 18 years after the events of the original series. While at school, Albus meets his best friend Scorpius, after a shocking turn of events on his first day. Throughout the play, Harry and Albus must learn to set aside their differences and understand that while they are not the same, they are still family. In the end, they come together to fight a common enemy and they learn to accept each other for who they are.
This play included many technical and technological aspects. There were pyrotechnics, live animals, and other behind the scenes tricks. This, of course, required lots of practice and dedication from the cast and crew. Maggie Taylor, the Stage Manager of this production, said that in order for the show to run smoothly, “A lot of people had to work together and be on top of things. We have never done a show this big before and we are one of the first schools to do this show. It was really cool to be backstage and see everything come together. Everyone had worked so hard to bring the production together.”
In addition to everyone needing to be on the same page, there were some safety precautions that had to be taken, such has having a firefighter backstage to ensure that everyone would stay safe.
“It was definitely something I wasn’t used to and a great experience,” said Jack Ehrenworth, who played Albus Severus Potter. “It was really cool to get to use fire and experience the live animals, but there were many things that could go wrong so there was definitely some fear in that sense as well.”
The cast of the show was also talented and dedicated enough to perform all of their lines in a British accent throughout the play. They spent a lot of time working on this, and it showed.
“Getting into the flow of using the accent constantly was definitely a challenge, but the more I used it the more it became familiar. It began coming more naturally after a while and it just felt normal by the end of the process,” Ehrenworth stated. “We had a rehearsal almost every day after school, usually about two to three hours.”
As well as having rehearsals after school, the cast and crew members also came into school some days on weekends and days off to wrap up the loose ends of the show before the performances.
“The choreography was so impressive and you can tell how much effort everyone put into the show,” said Selena Aseron, an audience member who attended the Saturday afternoon show. “The acting was phenomenal.”
Their dedication paid off, and it resulted in an amazing performance that showed how much everyone loved performing this play. Congratulations to the cast and crew of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, your production was incredible.
