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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two

Parts One and Two Playscript
PlaysTime Travel
Pages
337
Published
2016
Language
English

Synopsis

Set nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts, this stage play follows Albus Severus Potter — Harry's youngest son, sorted into Slytherin — as he begins his own time at Hogwarts, struggling under the weight of a famous father he cannot live up to and does not fully understand. His unlikely friendship with Scorpius Malfoy, Draco's gentle and bookish son, provides the story's emotional centre: two boys from the wrong houses finding solidarity in their shared experience of being defined by their fathers.

When Albus and Scorpius stumble upon a time-turner and attempt to change a moment from the past they consider a mistake, their interference produces consequences far worse than anything they intended — and forces Harry to confront the dimensions of his own legacy that remain unresolved.

The script was developed by playwright Jack Thorne from an original story by Thorne, John Tiffany, and J.K. Rowling. The play premiered at the Palace Theatre in London in July 2016, initially in two parts on the same day or on consecutive evenings, and went on to win a record nine Olivier Awards in 2017 including Best New Play — the most won by any production at a single ceremony. The published script was released simultaneously with the premiere and became the fastest-selling book of 2016 in the UK.

Prose complexity
4/10

Vibe

NostalgicEmotionalMysteriousAdventurous
Coming of Age

Genres

Plays Time Travel Fantasy Drama Adventure Young Adult

Authors

J
J. K. Rowling

Born on 31 July 1965 in Yate, near Bristol, England, Joanne Rowling published her first novel under the initials J.K. at her publisher's suggestion — the K borrowed from her grandmother Kathleen to create a gender-neutral pen name. Before her writing career, she worked as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International in London and later as an English teacher in Oporto, Portugal. She conceived the idea for Harry Potter on a delayed train journey from Manchester to London in 1990...

J
John Tiffany

John Tiffany directed "Once" for which he was the recipient of multiple awards both in the West End and on Broadway. As Associate Director of the Royal Court, his work includes "The Twits," "Hope" and "The Pass." He was the director of "Let The Right One In" for the National Theatre of Scotland, which transferred to the Royal Court, West End and St. Ann s Warehouse. His other work for the National Theatre of Scotland includes "Macbeth" (also Broadway), "Enquirer," "The Missing," "Peter Pan," "Th...

J
Jack Thorne

Jack Thorne is a British playwright and screenwriter, born in Bristol in 1978. He wrote the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, from a story by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany and himself, and the stage adaptation of Let the Right One In. His plays include When You Cure Me and The Solid Life of Sugar Water, and his screen work includes Skins, His Dark Materials, Wonder, the Enola Holmes films and the miniseries Adolescence.

Characters

Albus Severus PotterProtagonist

Harry's youngest son, sorted into Slytherin.

Scorpius MalfoyProtagonist

Draco's bookish son, Albus's closest friend.

Harry PotterSupporting

Now an adult, working at the Ministry of Magic.

Hermione GrangerSupporting

Minister for Magic, juggling an extraordinary professional position with a complicated personal history, whose role in the alternate timelines reveals the full cost of path-not-taken scenarios.

Draco MalfoySupporting

A more sympathetic figure than in the original series — a widower whose concern for his son and his difficult relationship with his own reputation make him one of the play's most developed returning characters.

All characters in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two

Frequently asked questions

  • Who wrote Harry Potter and the Cursed Child?

    The script was written by playwright Jack Thorne, based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany (the director), and Thorne. Rowling is credited for the 'original new story' — she developed the concept and the story — but she did not write the script itself, which is Thorne's work. The play is officially considered the eighth Harry Potter story.

  • How many Olivier Awards did it win, and why is that significant?

    The Cursed Child won nine Olivier Awards at the 2017 ceremony — the record for the most Olivier Awards won by any single production at one ceremony. The awards included Best New Play, Best Director, Best Lighting Design, and Best Set Design. The previous record had stood for decades.

  • Is this the eighth Harry Potter book?

    It is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series, billed as 'the eighth story' in Rowling's official framing — but it is a play script, not a novel. The published version is the rehearsal script rather than a traditional narrative, and some readers have found the format a significant departure from the seven novels. It is nonetheless considered part of the canonical Harry Potter story by Rowling and her publishers.

  • Why is Albus in Slytherin?

    Albus Severus Potter is sorted into Slytherin — the house his parents feared — establishing his separateness from the heroic legacy he has inherited. The play's central emotional premise is that Harry's fame and the expectations it creates are as much a burden to his son as Voldemort's attention was to Harry himself. Albus in Slytherin is the play's clearest symbol of the gap between parent and child.

  • Is the time-turner plot consistent with the original Harry Potter rules?

    This is the most frequently debated aspect of the play among Harry Potter fans. The time-turners in the play function differently from the one in Prisoner of Azkaban — they create branching alternate timelines rather than a single fixed loop — which some readers have found inconsistent with the established rules. Thorne has acknowledged the difference but characterised it as a deliberate dramatic choice.

  • Is this book a novel or a script?

    This work is a playscript written for the stage rather than a traditional novel, featuring dialogue and stage directions intended for theatrical performance.

  • Does this story require reading the previous books first?

    The narrative picks up directly from the epilogue of the final novel in the original series, making familiarity with those events essential for understanding the context and character relationships.

  • Is there a stage adaptation of this story?

    This book is the official script for a major stage production that premiered in London and has since been performed in various international cities, utilizing elaborate stagecraft and illusions to depict magic in a live setting.

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