Potted Potter – The Unauthorized Harry Experience – A Parody.

To use a Harry Potter pun, this show is a HOOT!

Potted Potter – The Unauthorized Harry Experience – A Parody was originally created as a five-minute street sketch in 2005, designed to entertain Potter fans awaiting the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Since then, it has had many iterations and has travelled the world. The brainchild of Olivier Award-nominated actors Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner, this is a show primarily designed for young ‘Potterheads’, but its appeal is universal as was evident in a guffawing audience on opening night. Not being a true follower of Potter (I’m a Star Wars girl), I took a friend to this show who could basically recite every word uttered in Rowling’s work. Her comment at the end of the show - ‘fantastic - my face hurts from laughing’.

On arrival in the theatre, we are greeted by eerie, atmospheric music and a set with objects shrouded in dark cloths. That is about as serious as it gets! From here the show propels us into the stories of Harry Potter.

In an hour and fifteen minutes, the two actors, Scott Hoatson and Brendan Murphy barrel at Hogwarts Express speed, through the seven books. For purists the accuracy and portrayal will not be an issue as the audience is captured and swept along with the silliness from the first moment.

These two performers are absolutely stellar at physical theatre and their ability to switch character, voices and multiple costumes and hats make for a high-speed ride. The golden snitch costume is a riot! Gags are plentiful and one feels at times that although clearly scripted there is still an element of improv with local jokes and references to other shows throughout the performance. Whilst primarily aimed at the young, there are enough references and jokes to capture adult laughter too.

The premise of this show begins with bibliophile Scott reading Potter books at a desk and his friend Brendan exploding into his Potter world with little or no knowledge of the stories. Scott is the straight man who plays Harry for much of the show and Brendan EVERY other character. Hats, wigs, puppets and dragons bring each book to life in the most absurd way possible. There is audience participation- two gorgeous kiddies brought up on stage to ‘compete’ in a chase for the snitch, and an uproarious game of Quidditch by the audience where we find ourselves bashing about giant balls and competing as two houses from the stories to attempt to score a goal. This moment stirred my, and everyone else in the audience’s, inner child and there was something beautiful about watching five hundred people forgetting their troubles and just being plain ridiculous. We laugh incessantly as Scott becomes more and more frustrated at Brendan’s intrusions into his love of Potter, confusing the stories with Narnia, Lord of the Rings and Jurassic Park to name a few. The frenetic pace of this show is exhausting for the audience (in a good way), one can only imagine how much it takes out of the actors!

Without giving too much away, the set by Simon Scullion is simple, colourful and satirical and as each piece is revealed, spontaneous laughter erupts. The lighting by Tim Mascall is superb and captures each moment perfectly and the music by Phil Innes is tailored well to fit the stories. Director Richard Hurst has built a tight, fast paced show that allows the talents of the two actors to shine.

Some highlights for this reviewer, aside from the joyful Quidditch match, was some wonderful video work by Tom Hillenbrand and the spectacular sung finale between Harry and ‘he who shall not be amed’, resplendent in Devil Horns. Hilariously clever.

So grab your wands, academic gowns, scarves and owls and a ticket to see this magically silly tour of Harry Potter’s world! Potted Potter – The Unauthorized Harry Experience – A Parody will not disappoint.

Shelley Hampton