Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to be transfigured to one-part play for Broadway return

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is returning to the stage—with a little transfiguration to its structure.

On Monday, producers announced the play will return to North American stages in a slimmed-down, newly staged, one-show experience. Formerly presented as two parts across two separate performances, the play will now exist as one condensed theatrical experience.

Performances of the revised Harry Potter and the Cursed Child begin at Broadway's Lyric Theatre Nov. 16 and at the Curran in San Francisco on Jan. 11, 2022. The play will make its Canadian premiere in Toronto next May.

"We are delighted to announce that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which since its triumphant opening in New York and San Francisco has seen record breaking numbers of people spellbound by the wizardry on stage, will be returning in North America in a new, re-imagined version that audiences can see in one afternoon or evening," said producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender in a statement. "This is an unprecedented moment in theatre history. After being closed for more than 15 months, almost all of Broadway and theatre across North America will return before the end of the year. Given the challenges of remounting and running a two-part show in the U.S. on the scale of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and the commercial challenges faced by the theatre and tourism industries emerging from the global shutdowns, we are excited to be able to move forward with a new version of the play that allows audiences to enjoy the complete Cursed Child adventure in one sitting eight times a week."

The show is based on an original story by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and collaborators Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. Thorne penned the play, while Tiffany directs. The creative team used the time away during the pandemic to re-conceive of the storytelling and how to condense it into one part.

The story follows the children of Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Draco Malfoy as they embark on their time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Nineteen years after the conclusion of the original Harry Potter series, it picks up the tale of the unlikely friendship between Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, as they encounter a new threat to the wizarding world and the fabric of time itself.

"We are incredibly excited to be returning to the US with this reimagined Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," Thorne and Tiffany said in a statement. "We've been working hard on this new version throughout lockdown and it's been a joyous process of rediscovery. It has given us a unique opportunity to look at the play with fresh eyes and we have been inspired by the entire creative team every step of the way."

"Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has pulled off a transfiguration challenge worthy of Professor McGonagall: Converting the visually arresting world of Harry Potter into stage play," EW said of the original West End production, while also noting it was "overstuffed."

While the North American productions will be streamlined, productions in Australia, London, and Germany will maintain the original two-part format. The London production will return Oct. 14, while the German company returns Dec. 1 for previews.

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