The new characters are wonderfully ideated, though even after two plays we don’t get a full sense of who they are or why they make their choices. This has more to do with the plot-that-only-gets-bigger than it does their lines or acting, however. The two boys, Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter, are incredibly charming and sweet and believable. Really, I just want to hug Scorpius to the end of my days.

After Part 2, I was able to talk to a few of the main actors by the stage doors. The actress who played Hermione asked us, “how was the story? Because it really is all about story.” I couldn’t respond, so I smiled while others raved on about it. Honestly, the story was the worst part, but I don’t think that means the play was a waste of time and effort—because, for me, it really isn’t “all about story.”

I was able to talk with David Heyman (the producer of the films) at a Q&A earlier last week, and he went on and on about what grabbed him from the Harry Potter series: the universal themes of outcasts, friendship, family, loyalty… I realized then that these, plus the amazing characters we all have grown to know and love, are what it’s all about to me. In that frame of mind, the plays were a success. If they were really only about story, then I’m sorry to say they did not do too well.

They released an interview talking about how the plays came to be—that they were writing for one show when they realized it was a whole lot bigger than that, and so they opted for two. I can see exactly how the plot got out of hand—it grew and grew and grew, threatening to overwhelm and consume the characters in all the action that had to take place. Luckily we had a few key moments of reprieve, when one character simply talked with another, when the actors and writing really, truly shone.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is currently being marketed as the Eighth Story, and I don’t think that could be any farther from the truth. The thing about Cursed Child is that it’s a play, and any reader of the script would do well to keep that in mind for the duration of their reading. When you’re in the audience, the plot surrounds you—you almost feel a part of it—as that’s the magic of theater. It’s a very, very different medium, and for the space in which it was created I did enjoy the story.

If you’re going into it prepared to compare it to the books, stop where you are. Just as the films were separate and wonderful in their own creative way (really, I gave them a hard time growing up but looking back am astounded at how well they had been made), this performance is not the books. Nor should it try to be. It is magnificently put together on stage and is well worth a watch—but I’m afraid the care and effort behind this magnificence will hardly be evident in paper format.

The upside of literature is detail and depth and seeing how Harry thinks; the positive aspect of film is visualizing that detail and hearing and watching those characters as if they were real. The wonderful part of theater is being there with them, quite literally, and watching magic happen before your eyes. No CGI, no post-production, just magic. And that was what the experience was, for me: beyond magical.

Leading up to the release of the script, please please PLEASE do not look up spoilers. They are out of order, out of context, and you’re doing yourself and the play a disservice. If you’re planning on seeing the show in the next year already, I’d strongly recommend waiting to see it before you read it… but I’m not sure I’d be able to take my own advice if I was in your position! :)

My thoughts on preparing to see or read the play: go in with an open mind and a hunger to find out where the trio, Ginny, and Draco have ended up and how their relationships have progressed after the fall of Voldemort. They’re in good hands. Don’t take the story too seriously. We’ve suspended our belief throughout the whole series, and we’d do better to continue that now. A lot of things seem big and grandiose but if you think about it, Harry and company ran away from Hogwarts in the middle of their 5th year by riding invisible horses all the way to London. We’re just so used to those hijinks that they don’t seem as far out as they might to new eyes! Give Cursed Child the same benefit of the doubt.