From Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to Trinity College in Gawler, a magical production is soon to arrive. Harry Potter and The Cursed Child (High School Edition) has been licensed for Australia’s first school-based production. This streamlined version has brought an educational twist to a now iconic play. It will be the first time the production has been performed at a school in the Southern Hemisphere, tand the first performance of the piece outside of Melbourne.
The production will take place from November 21st to 24th, in the Marnkutyi Parirna Theatre, which opened last year in Trinity College Gawler campus.
Senior Drama Teacher Josh Kerr said that the year 12 cohort for this year was the inspiration behind choosing this large production.
“I had no idea what I was going to do with this class, because there’s so many of them.”
“There’s 32 in year 12, and I needed to find something that fit them and then I got this email from a friend about the Broadway Licensing of the Harry Potter school play.”
Josh Kerr said the production was the result of countless hours spent in meetings and lengthy email chains.
“204 email chains, many, 3am phone calls, tons of zoom meetings to really get to where we are now, which is a performance that technically takes place after their year 12 is finished.”
Harry Potter and The Cursed Child (High School Edition) is a shorter version, running about two and a half hours. The production has cut out some of the special effect scenes, but still will include some illusions and theatre tricks.
The chance to portray these iconic characters on stage, with a larger-than-life ensemble cast solidified the choice, Josh said.
Casting students for a production is hard to pull off, but for choosing one of the most iconic trios is another challenge.
“It is a group that has more girls than boys and to cast I thought I could probably get away with casting a feminine-appearing student as a young male, versus casting them as Harry, who is meant to be in his 30s to 40s at this point,” Josh said.
The production will also give a taste of the professional performing arts industry to the secondary cohort of Trinity College.
“We ran a proper audition process for background actors and performance, so they got to pair up for scenes.”
Josh credits the hard work of the crew to their aspiring passion for theatre, addressing them as his “miracle cohort.”
“They’re all incredibly dedicated, and they all want to pursue the performing arts, or majority of them want to pursue performing arts as a career, and it’s just such a passion for them.”
Trinity College’s commitment to expanding the possibilities of small theatre is remarkable and opens up doors for the future productions.
“I really want to redefine performing arts for schools. I want people to go to a show and think, wow, I would have happily spent 80 bucks on that.”
For more information on tickets, find it here: https://www.trinity.sa.edu.au/events/harry-potter-and-the-cursed-child
WHO: Trinity College
WHAT: Australia’s first school production of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child
WHEN: 21st November 2024 till 24th November 2024 (7pm every night)
WHERE: Marnkutyi Parirna Theatre @Trinity College, Evanston South SA
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