Harry Potter and the cursed child – a theatre trip for the family?  

Donna, owner and manager of Jigsaw Dulwich, visited the theatre with her family to see Harry Potter and the cursed child. We spoke with Donna to hear all about her experience!

We spoke with Donna to hear all about her experience!

“It’s always exciting when there’s a new theatre production to go and watch. As much as I love all the classics, there are very few I’ve seen more than once (although I made an exception for the amazing Hamilton!). So I was particularly excited about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, especially as I could combine it with a Christmas present for my Harry Potter mad 10-year-old daughter.

So, I’m not actually a Harry Potter fan myself. I find myself switching off periodically during Harry Potter family movie nights. And I only ever read the first book, but this piece of theatre had me gripped from start to end. The production and special effects were simply mind blowing – I don’t want to give too much away, but the dementors being a metre or two away from us (and we were in the cheap seats at the top of the balcony), the disappearing into the phone box, and the appearing through the fireplace – magical! Regular gasps and whoops from the audience, and not just from children and diehard Harry Potter fans, imposters like myself. Not a musical but subtle & simple choreography adding to the effect and drama.

It is a long one though, so you need to buckle in. Is this suitable for children of all ages? For those that don’t know, you’ll be at the theatres from 1 pm until almost 9 pm (!) with a two hour break in the middle for a quick bite to eat. We expected it to drag but it did not. My 12-year-old boy and 10-year-old daughter were also glued to their seats. Okay, my nearly seven-year-old had a little 45 minute nap towards the end but that’s when it became a little scary, so that was not such a bad thing. Officilly reccomended for ages 10 andf up, but I’d say fine for a 7 year old if you think they’ll sit and if they don’t scare easily.

Was a fabulous New Years Day family outing for us. All in all – highly recommend!

Little last minute tip – book a restaurant for the 4-6pm break because of course 1400 hungry people all pile out of the Palace Theatre and into the west end at 4pm.” – Donna, Jigsaw Dulwich

Learn more about the classes at Jigsaw Dulwich here.