Finally, after more than three years, some of the secrets surrounding Harry Potter and the Cursed Child have been revealed. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: The Journey, a new companion book for the stage production was published on 31 October in the UK, and on 5 November in the US. Finally, the magic of the show can be shared with everyone.
It's a truly gorgeous book, aesthetically speaking, totally capturing the design and motifs of the show on its cover. Beneath the dust jacket, the book itself is gold all over and bears the Hogwarts logo from the play.
The early chapters explain how the creative team came together, and how J.K. Rowling was first approached for the project. The wider themes of the play are discussed, such as legacy, grief and trauma, and how the plot of the story began to take shape.
One extract we'd like to share is how the creative team made the hard decision to remove Astoria Malfoy from the story. As a character, Astoria has a lot of significance for us especially. She's the real heart of the story, and her loss early on creates ripples and impacts the rest of the show. Here is what The Journey has to say about her:
"One of the hardest characters to lose, in many ways, was Astoria Malfoy, wife of Draco and mother to Scorpius. Astoria appeared in the first few drafts, but Thorne and Tiffany came to the realisation that there wasn't enough space in the story to do justice to her. 'We didn't have time to go into Draco's private world - we could only see Harry's private world,' Thorne explains. 'We barely see any of Hermione's private world. It was a problem that we had this character and we weren't serving her.'
Thorne and Tiffany brought this concern to Rowling. 'We pitched to Jo that we wanted Scorpius's mum to be dead, and we explained what that did for Draco - being a single parent - and what that did to Scorpius to remove her.' Rowling thought it was an interesting idea and even gave them the illness that would take Astoria's life: a blood malediction.
Without Astoria, Draco and Scorpius lost the emotional glue that held them together. 'And it just immediately opened up the whole story,' says Thorne. 'When we talked to Jo at the beginning, learning her thoughts and all the stories she has in her head, Astoria was this very beautiful woman. I miss the fact that we don't get to tell that story, but hopefully there's hints of her in Scorpius.'"
In Jack Thorne's original treatment of the play, he had created a new original character to be the headmaster of Hogwarts – Professor Marazion. J.K Rowling, however, wasn't keen on the idea, and decided only "a very elderly McGonagall" would do.
When it came to casting the show, John Tiffany was ambitious and bold. The Journey explains how he's known Noma Dumezweni for many years. She had been in previous workshops for him, but due to conflicting schedules over the years, he had never been able to cast her.
"Tiffany had Dumezweni in mind for the part from the very beginning. 'I knew that I didn't want all three characters to be white in the stage version,' he explains. 'I knew I loved Noma as a performer, and she just seemed to have that majesty, Hermione's intelligence and strength.'
Tiffany explains that there has been a conversation going on in theatres in London and other cities for a while now about diversity in casting. 'You do have to have an ambition to be diverse,' says Tiffany. 'But I think we have to make bold gestures like this. I don't care what people call it; I don't care whether they think it's positive discrimination, or über-liberalism, this is what's happening. The world has changed.' Tiffany also felt that casting a black actress as Hermione would mark the play as being clearly different from the films. 'It would carve out our own space.'"
When it came to designing the show, the mammoth task was given to Christine Jones and Brett J. Banakis. Jones began by researching train stations, following on from John Tiffany's idea to open Cursed Child at King's Cross station. She describes King's Cross as being "like a giant window out to the world," which would be somewhat difficult to replicate within the confines of a theatre.
"... Jones and Banakis started looking at smaller spaces within train stations, and soon found an old image of the St Pancras booking office. The room features a large clock on its walls, and is a combination of Gothic arches, brick walls, and Tudor-style panelling, a grouping of forms that reflects the timelessness of Hogwarts and the wizarding world. 'We knew we could do the show in this room,' says Banakis. 'This could be the set.'"
Christine Jones really put considerable thought into the design of the show, imbuing it with her own personality and thoughts. I think she's truly wonderful, and I still get teary whenever I watch her winning speech at the Olivier's.
"Embedded in the front edge of the stage is a quote crafted in brass: Inlustret Lumine, which means 'let the light shine.' The words face the actors. 'I often talk about how a set is steel and wood,' says Jones, 'until you invest it with the love and the spirit of the performers and the characters.'"
Christine Jones also designed the wands used in the play and amazingly, some of those original sketches of the wands and their influences can be seen in The Journey. Fans will already know the wand woods for Harry, Ron Hermione, Ginny and Draco, but this book finally gives us more details about Albus and Scorpius's, which also gives us greater insight into their characters.
Albus's is described as having knots on it, because Christine Jones imagined him as "such a worrier." His wand is made from cherry. According to Wand Woods, as written by J.K. Rowling, "cherry wood often makes a wand that possesses truly lethal power, whatever the core..."
Scorpius's wand has many visible numbers or marks on it, because Jones understood how tortured he is. There's a possibly that the wand bears the marks of "self-harming for relief from his pain." Scorpius's wand is made from willow, which is an "uncommon wood wand with healing power." It is noted that "the ideal owner for a willow wand often has some (often unwarranted) insecurity, however well they may try to hide it." According to Ollivander, "he who has the furthest to travel will go fastest with willow."
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: The Journey really is a fantastic book. We'd recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the play, or just a fan of Harry Potter in general. The book focuses a lot on the design and general aesthetic of the show, which is great, but personally, we would quite like to have seen more in depth discussions of the characters in the play, as well as the plot. A timeline perhaps, of events that took place over the 19 years of Harry's story that we don't get to see? We would also have loved to read more about Delphi, her origins both as a concept and as a character.
It's a truly gorgeous book, aesthetically speaking, totally capturing the design and motifs of the show on its cover. Beneath the dust jacket, the book itself is gold all over and bears the Hogwarts logo from the play.
 |
| From WizardingWorld.com |
The early chapters explain how the creative team came together, and how J.K. Rowling was first approached for the project. The wider themes of the play are discussed, such as legacy, grief and trauma, and how the plot of the story began to take shape.
One extract we'd like to share is how the creative team made the hard decision to remove Astoria Malfoy from the story. As a character, Astoria has a lot of significance for us especially. She's the real heart of the story, and her loss early on creates ripples and impacts the rest of the show. Here is what The Journey has to say about her:
"One of the hardest characters to lose, in many ways, was Astoria Malfoy, wife of Draco and mother to Scorpius. Astoria appeared in the first few drafts, but Thorne and Tiffany came to the realisation that there wasn't enough space in the story to do justice to her. 'We didn't have time to go into Draco's private world - we could only see Harry's private world,' Thorne explains. 'We barely see any of Hermione's private world. It was a problem that we had this character and we weren't serving her.'
Thorne and Tiffany brought this concern to Rowling. 'We pitched to Jo that we wanted Scorpius's mum to be dead, and we explained what that did for Draco - being a single parent - and what that did to Scorpius to remove her.' Rowling thought it was an interesting idea and even gave them the illness that would take Astoria's life: a blood malediction.
Without Astoria, Draco and Scorpius lost the emotional glue that held them together. 'And it just immediately opened up the whole story,' says Thorne. 'When we talked to Jo at the beginning, learning her thoughts and all the stories she has in her head, Astoria was this very beautiful woman. I miss the fact that we don't get to tell that story, but hopefully there's hints of her in Scorpius.'"
 |
| From WizardingWorld.com |
In Jack Thorne's original treatment of the play, he had created a new original character to be the headmaster of Hogwarts – Professor Marazion. J.K Rowling, however, wasn't keen on the idea, and decided only "a very elderly McGonagall" would do.
When it came to casting the show, John Tiffany was ambitious and bold. The Journey explains how he's known Noma Dumezweni for many years. She had been in previous workshops for him, but due to conflicting schedules over the years, he had never been able to cast her.
 |
| From WizardingWorld.com |
"Tiffany had Dumezweni in mind for the part from the very beginning. 'I knew that I didn't want all three characters to be white in the stage version,' he explains. 'I knew I loved Noma as a performer, and she just seemed to have that majesty, Hermione's intelligence and strength.'
Tiffany explains that there has been a conversation going on in theatres in London and other cities for a while now about diversity in casting. 'You do have to have an ambition to be diverse,' says Tiffany. 'But I think we have to make bold gestures like this. I don't care what people call it; I don't care whether they think it's positive discrimination, or über-liberalism, this is what's happening. The world has changed.' Tiffany also felt that casting a black actress as Hermione would mark the play as being clearly different from the films. 'It would carve out our own space.'"
When it came to designing the show, the mammoth task was given to Christine Jones and Brett J. Banakis. Jones began by researching train stations, following on from John Tiffany's idea to open Cursed Child at King's Cross station. She describes King's Cross as being "like a giant window out to the world," which would be somewhat difficult to replicate within the confines of a theatre.
 |
| St Pancras Booking Office |
"... Jones and Banakis started looking at smaller spaces within train stations, and soon found an old image of the St Pancras booking office. The room features a large clock on its walls, and is a combination of Gothic arches, brick walls, and Tudor-style panelling, a grouping of forms that reflects the timelessness of Hogwarts and the wizarding world. 'We knew we could do the show in this room,' says Banakis. 'This could be the set.'"
Christine Jones really put considerable thought into the design of the show, imbuing it with her own personality and thoughts. I think she's truly wonderful, and I still get teary whenever I watch her winning speech at the Olivier's.
"Embedded in the front edge of the stage is a quote crafted in brass: Inlustret Lumine, which means 'let the light shine.' The words face the actors. 'I often talk about how a set is steel and wood,' says Jones, 'until you invest it with the love and the spirit of the performers and the characters.'"
Christine Jones also designed the wands used in the play and amazingly, some of those original sketches of the wands and their influences can be seen in The Journey. Fans will already know the wand woods for Harry, Ron Hermione, Ginny and Draco, but this book finally gives us more details about Albus and Scorpius's, which also gives us greater insight into their characters.
 |
| Christine Jones's sketches of the wands |
Albus's is described as having knots on it, because Christine Jones imagined him as "such a worrier." His wand is made from cherry. According to Wand Woods, as written by J.K. Rowling, "cherry wood often makes a wand that possesses truly lethal power, whatever the core..."
Scorpius's wand has many visible numbers or marks on it, because Jones understood how tortured he is. There's a possibly that the wand bears the marks of "self-harming for relief from his pain." Scorpius's wand is made from willow, which is an "uncommon wood wand with healing power." It is noted that "the ideal owner for a willow wand often has some (often unwarranted) insecurity, however well they may try to hide it." According to Ollivander, "he who has the furthest to travel will go fastest with willow."
 |
| From WizardingWorld.com |
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: The Journey really is a fantastic book. We'd recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the play, or just a fan of Harry Potter in general. The book focuses a lot on the design and general aesthetic of the show, which is great, but personally, we would quite like to have seen more in depth discussions of the characters in the play, as well as the plot. A timeline perhaps, of events that took place over the 19 years of Harry's story that we don't get to see? We would also have loved to read more about Delphi, her origins both as a concept and as a character.
Question: What was the name of the headmaster of Hogwarts in Jack Thorne's original treatment of the play?
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