My face hurts. I haven’t laughed this much in… I don’t know how long. I just went to see Potted Potter at the McPherson Playhouse with my best friend; we both walked in with high expectations and out with big grins.
“Is this my Maurauder’s Map?” I asked the usher as she handed me a scroll at the entrance. Alas, it was not. Nor was it the Daily Prophet, but, rather, a program listing the witches and wizards who have worked hard to make this comedy a reality since 2006.
For a show that has carried on for over 12 years, Potted Potter is delightfully unscripted in its delivery. Some of my favourite moments were the improvised lines that even the actors couldn’t keep a straight face against; the audience ate those moments up. There was certainly an air of excitement in the theatre and a general willingness to be led into this fast-moving magical world created by Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner.
As one of the actors read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to himself on stage (we checked—he did flip the pages), the second actor (there are only two) walked through the aisles before the show, saying hello and getting to know the audience. The fourth wall never stood a chance in this production.
Potted Potter is fast. The lighting is wild. There are more hats than Snape can shake a wand at. There are dragons and snakes and flying cars. There is a cheeky irreverence in the plot. They even snuck in a Trump joke, much to our general glee (the quip against teachers, however, spread a deadening silence across the hall that I dare say was palpable).
I wasn’t convinced that two actors could play all 300 roles that are in the seven Harry Potter books in 70 minutes with any room left to breathe. They didn’t. The actual time spent on plot synopsis was more like 15 minutes, with the rest filled with jokes, laughing, running, skipping, and all other forms of mayhem on stage. And quidditch—let’s not forget that!
It’s exam time and we’re getting into flu season; I know of no better medicine than laughter, and tonight, I was served a healthy dose.
Potted Potter
Various times, Wednesday, October 3 to Monday, October 8
Various prices, McPherson Playhouse
pottedpotter.com