Twice a year, students, teachers, parents and their children walk into Groves auditorium. Decorations cut from paper and cardboard, and painted bright colors litter the walls. Proud parents stand near the entrance handing out playbills accompanied by a long line for the concession stand. The auditorium is full of people trying to find their seats. There is almost always someone in your aisle with flowers, who can’t help but smile when the person they are there for is on stage. The most memorable part of the performance is when the lights dim and the people you see as your classmate, neighbor, friend or family become a completely different person.
This year, Groves Performing Arts is doing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for the spring play. Students will become wizards attending Hogwarts as soon as the lights dim. They have been practicing for weeks now. The words characters say will become their own. Wearing a cloak and their character’s house colors will be a part of their life. They will make the acting choices that will display their characters’ story as their own. The actors have been successful up to this point due the assistance of their director and their own dedication at rehearsals.
Finding the perfect play to put on every year is a lengthy process.
“I was looking for a play to do and I found out that Harry Potter was available and there was only one high school in Michigan who was going to be performing it. The school had the first option to perform it and it happens to be one of my best friends who was directing the school’s play,” John Rutherford, director of the play, said. Rutherford reached out and asked if he could use some of the school’s props. He then applied for the rights and announced he was doing the play. He wanted to make sure Groves’ production was different from other productions in Southeast Michigan.
“We selected scenes from the play that they would read, they would identify a character they were most interested in playing, they get to read for that character,” Rutherford said. Casting is the foundation of any play. These are the people who will play the characters who make the story what it is. Casting the best person to play each role is essential. Sometimes people got called back for the role they originally read for and other times he had them read for different characters.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is about Harry Potter’s son Albus who gets sorted into Slytherine— his father’s rival house. He also becomes best friends with Draco Malfoy’s son Scorpius. Draco Malfoy was Harry Potter’s rival. Albus does everything differently from his father by joining the Slytherin; the house no Potter is supposed to be a part of. The story is about Albus and Scorpuis’ friendship and the trouble they get into.
When GPAC is practicing they must focus specifically on one thing that can improve the acting in the play. This is character relationships. The actors must put an emphasis on their emotions and opinions of other characters to make the play the best it can be.
“How are they feeling toward each other? That part is what is universal,” Rutherford said. This is especially important in this play. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is about the friendship between Harry Potter’s son, Albus, and Draco Malfoy’s son, Scorpius. The play is also about Albus and Scorpius’ relationship with their parents. There are so many different impactful relationship dynamics that the actors and directors must focus on to make the show the best it can be.
“It is about the relationship between two people who are both misunderstood and feeling unwelcome and have challenges connecting to other people,” Rutherford said. Albus and Scorpius both feel different and misunderstood and bond over those emotions. The actors focus on expressing the relationship because of how important their friendship is to the story.
Creating the play has its difficulties though. To make the play feel more realistic the actors must focus on details.
“What we want is to make it feel like is that the world of the wizards of Hogwarts is our world and our reality. Wearing a cloak and using a wand is not that unnormal,” Rutherford said. The play is supposed to take place in a magical setting and includes time travel. To create these elements of the play, GPAC must focus on wardrobe, makeup and lighting. Those elements can help them express the magical elements of the play to make it all the more realistic.
Getting into character helps the actors see the world through the perspective of their character, making the acting look and feel more realistic.
“A lot of them watched all the movies, they read all the books, they’ve done a lot of research about who their characters are. I’ve done that, too,” Christina Jones, a senior actor in the play, said.
Getting into character is not something that just comes to the actors. Studying and practicing are how the actors get into character. Watching the behavior and habits of characters in the world of Hogwarts enables the actors to become a part of the world.
Harry Potter and the world of Hogwarts have been a large part of pop culture ever since the books were published. Which house you would belong to has always been a talking point. Arguments over which characters are the best can be overheard during lunch. There is no doubt that Harry Potter is a Young Adult favorite.
“I love all the movies and I read all the books… I love Harry Potter and I’ve always wanted to do the play. I’m glad that we got a chance to do it,” Jones said. GPAC’s production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is not only exciting to fans but for the actors, as well. Some of them have grown up reading and watching the story. Dreaming about the world they finally get to be a part of.
“It’s a show that a lot of younger people like. I think that we will get a big audience for the show,” Ari Kutinsky, a sophomore actor, said. The show is fun, magical, unique and classic— the type of show anyone wants to see.
The author of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling wrote this story as a play originally. It was turned into a Broadway show that fans could watch in London or New York City. The play was originally two separate plays each two and a half hours. Fans would have to see the first play one night and watch the sequel another night in order for them to catch the full story. Unfortunately, Covid-19 put a stop to this.
“During Covid they shut down and during that time they rewrote it and came back with a Broadway production. Now, the Broadway production is two and a half hours long. She wrote it and adapted it again for the high school version now,” Rutherford said. Opening night will be on April 24. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will be a production full of rich friendship, intriguing family dynamics and loads of magic. The actors, tech crew and directors have been practicing for months to make the play the best it could possibly be. This is a story you will want to see and GPAC can’t wait to tell it!
