Crash course in the world of boy wizards
Over 4,000 pages of prose performed in 70 minutes
It’s been nine years since the publication of the last Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In the meantime, fans of J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard have had to satisfy their hunger for all things Harry with ancillary projects like the recent stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Potter Experience, won’t fill the appetite for new Potter stories. But the play promises to deliver a quick-witted refresher course on the old ones. For non-fans, it’s an opportunity to find out what happened in more than 4,000 pages of some of the best young adult fiction, with all seven books covered in a succinct 70 minutes.
Believe it or not, there are some of us who have yet to pick up a Potter book.
“Then you’re one of the people that definitely needs to see the show,” said actor James Percy.
“You need to catch up. But you can be forgiven. The books are long, the movies are long. We’ve managed to take everything that you need to know about Harry Potter, and the Harry Potter series, and condense it. You can be completely up-to-date on everything in just over an hour, in and out.”
Percy plays Potter; Joe Maudsley plays everyone else, from Hermione Granger (girl wizard) to Lord Voldemort (bad guy).
“He’s got the real tough job,” Percy said. “He drew the short straw. I play Harry, and that’s pretty much it. My costumes and props really are just a pair of famous round spectacles. Whereas Joe has to play everybody. It makes sense; if you squint a bit, he does look a little like Emma Watson (Hermione Granger in the movies).”
Potted Potter was originally created to entertain people lining up for a Potter book release. That was 10 years ago; since then, the show — by British comedy actors/writers Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner — has been a hit at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and London’s West End. And it’s toured all over the world, from the U.S. to Australia and countries in Asia. The Vancouver run is part of the show’s first Canadian tour.
For Percy, travelling the world as Potter is a dream come true. He’s been with the show four years; Maudsley came on board two years ago.
The two went to theatre school together and formed a comedy duo. It was Percy’s suggestion that the producers cast Maudsley as everyone else.
“He’s absolutely smashing it,” Percy said. “It’s basically two mates travelling the world and having far too much fun doing it.”
The show’s format is flexible enough to bring in up-to-date references, such as the new Potter play and also the forthcoming movie adaptation of Rowling’s 2001 Potter Universe-set book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
“We keep it fresh,” Percy said. “There’s a lot of improv in the show, so it feels a little different every night. And because there are only two actors, the audience plays a large part in the show.”
This includes a game of Quidditch, which if you don’t know what the rules are, makes Potted Potter the place to find out.
“What’s great about this show is we really do get all ages,” Percy said. “We get the young kids who are perhaps just starting to discover the Harry Potter books. And then you get the young adults, student-age, who like us grew up on the books. It’s nostalgia for them. Then we get the older generation as well. It’s really something for all ages.”
Potted Potter is playing in Vancouver until Christmas Eve.
“The fact that it’s a real family show makes it perfect for Christmas,” Percy said. “And it’s so much fun. I can’t say it enough. We have so much fun doing it. We laugh sometimes more than the audience. Which is probably not the right way around. But it’s nice to be able to get the whole family together, to enjoy it and have a good laugh.”