Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at a glance

Show
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (original two-part production)
Venue
Palace Theatre, West End
Address
113 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1D 5AY
Nearest station
Leicester Square (3 min walk)
Genre
Play — fantasy / family drama
Running time
Part One 2h 40m; Part Two 2h 25m (each incl. 20-min interval)
Age guidance
8+ (under 5s not admitted; under 14s must be accompanied)
Dates
Two-part production until 20 September 2026; one-part version from 6 October 2026
Schedule
Wed/Fri/Sat 2pm (Part One) + 7pm (Part Two); Sun 1pm + 6pm
Price range
From £30 (typically £30–£210 per part)
Story by
J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany
Script
Jack Thorne
Director
John Tiffany

Expert Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre

4.8
★★★★★

LTH Expert Rating

Reviewed by the London Theatre Hub editorial team. Last updated: 30 April 2026.

The Verdict

The Cursed Child is the most awarded play in modern theatre history — nine Olivier Awards, six Tony Awards, sixty major honours globally — and watching it again, in its final months as the original two-part epic, you remember why. John Tiffany's production, designed by Christine Jones with movement by Steven Hoggett and Jamie Harrison's seemingly impossible illusions, builds a kind of stagecraft that has genuinely never been matched. The wand duels, the Polyjuice transformations, the Patronus moments — these are the most technically extraordinary effects in the West End, and they are wedded to a story that takes its emotional stakes seriously.

The play is, at its core, about parenting. Harry is now a middle-aged Ministry of Magic employee struggling to be the father he never had, and his youngest son Albus is the cursed child of the title — a boy crushed by his surname. The Hamlet echoes are deliberate, but the play earns its own weight, and Jack Thorne's script gives the central friendship between Albus and Scorpius Malfoy the kind of detail and care that makes adult audiences cry as readily as children do. With the show transitioning to a one-part format on 6 October 2026, the final months of the original five-hour version are a genuinely time-limited theatrical event.

What Makes It Special

  • Sixty major honours, including a record-tying nine Oliviers. Cursed Child won nine 2017 Olivier Awards — the most ever won by a single production at the time — including Best New Play, Best Director (John Tiffany), Best Actor (Jamie Parker), and four design awards. It went on to win six 2018 Tony Awards including Best Play. No play in modern theatre has been more critically decorated.
  • The last two-part performances anywhere in the world. From 6 October 2026, the London production becomes a one-part show running 2h 55m. The five-hour two-part epic — performed across the same day or two consecutive evenings — has been the defining experience of the play since 2016. The final two-part performance is on 20 September 2026, with the 10-year anniversary performance on 30 July 2026.
  • Jamie Harrison's illusions and magic. The stage magic in Cursed Child is, even after nine years, the most impressive in the West End. Wand duels that genuinely look impossible. Bookcase-eating scenes. Underwater sequences. Polyjuice transformations performed in front of you. Most audience members spend the show trying — and failing — to work out how any of it is done.
  • An original story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. This is not an adaptation of a book; the play is its own story, the eighth official entry in the Harry Potter canon. Set 19 years after the events of Deathly Hallows, it focuses on the next generation while giving the original three (Harry, Ron, Hermione) substantial adult arcs. The published script became one of the fastest-selling books in UK publishing history.
  • The 2025/26 cast. Joshua Sullivan and Kai Spackman lead the new company as Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, joined by Oliver Boot as Draco and Tamia-Renée Alexandra as Rose Granger-Weasley. David Ricardo-Pearce continues as Harry, Claire Lams as Ginny, Thomas Aldridge as Ron, and Naana Agyei-Ampadu as Hermione. The current company joined from 15 October 2025.

You'll love Cursed Child if you...

  • Have read the Harry Potter books or watched the films — the story rewards background knowledge
  • Care about stage magic and illusion done at the highest level
  • Want to commit to a major theatrical event — five hours of theatre in one weekend
  • Are taking older children or teenagers to a play that genuinely matters to them
  • Want to see the original two-part version before it closes on 20 September 2026

It might not be for you if you...

  • Have never engaged with any Harry Potter book or film
  • Cannot commit the time to two parts, or want a single-evening show (wait for 6 October 2026)
  • Are bringing children under 8 — even older children may find some moments intense
  • Find J.K. Rowling's broader public commentary objectionable enough that it affects your enjoyment
  • Prefer realist theatre over fantasy and spectacle

Best for

  • Harry Potter fans
  • Families with older children
  • Teens
  • Tourists
  • Theatre magic enthusiasts
  • Big-event theatregoers

Not for those new to the Harry Potter universe or wanting a short evening out.

Critical Reception

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opened to overwhelming critical acclaim in 2016 and has been one of the most decorated productions in West End history since. Most major UK publications awarded it five stars at opening, with critics consistently praising John Tiffany's direction, Jamie Harrison's illusions, and the central performances. Verified ratings from major UK publications:

  • The Independent ★★★★★
  • Evening Standard ★★★★★
  • The Stage ★★★★★
  • WhatsOnStage ★★★★★
  • The Telegraph ★★★★★
  • The Guardian ★★★★

Source: published reviews of the original London production at the Palace Theatre.

Everything You Need to Know

What happens in The Cursed Child?

Cursed Child opens 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, on Platform 9¾ at King's Cross. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione are sending their children off to school. Harry's youngest son Albus is anxious about which house he'll be sorted into. He befriends Scorpius Malfoy, son of Draco, on the Hogwarts Express, and the two boys are about to become the centre of the story.

Albus and Scorpius

Albus is sorted into Slytherin — the first Potter ever to break with Gryffindor — and is bullied for not living up to his father. Scorpius, dogged by rumours that he is secretly the son of Voldemort, is also bullied. The two boys form a deep, defining friendship over the next four years, much of which is conveyed in some of the most beautifully written stretches of the play.

The Time-Turner

An aged Amos Diggory confronts Harry about the death of his son Cedric in Goblet of Fire and asks Harry to use a recovered Time-Turner to save him. Harry refuses. Albus, hearing the conversation and feeling his father has failed Cedric, decides to right the wrong himself. He and Scorpius steal the Time-Turner and travel into the past — and discover, painfully, that the smallest changes have catastrophic consequences.

A father and son

The play's emotional engine is Harry and Albus's broken relationship. Harry is a man who never had a father; Albus has a father who is, in his eyes, a hero too large to live up to. A devastating early-act argument between them — Harry tells Albus he wishes he were not his son — becomes the wound the rest of the play tries to heal. The reconciliation, when it comes, is one of the most affecting moments in modern West End theatre.

The cursed child

Without spoiling the second part, the play's title applies to multiple characters and resolves into something more emotionally complex than it first suggests. The villain's motivation, when revealed, restores stakes that the time-travel premise risks diluting. The closing scene returns Harry, Albus, and the legacy of the Battle of Hogwarts to a quiet, deeply earned moment of peace.