Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (#KeeptheSecrets)

This blog post will be spoiler free out of respect for JK Rowling and, more than that, out of pure human decency--I mean come on, who spoils things for people on purpose??

Eight months ago, when JK Rowling first announced that there would be a Harry Potter stage play, I--new to London though I was--immediately went online and signed up for the special pre-booking. On Halloween (the night Harry's parents were killed by Voldemort, btdubs), I was sent a very special link. Since I was, at that very moment, sleeping out on the street trying to get theatre tickets to see Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet (Is this revealing a theme?), mama took my place in the online queue. She hit the link at exactly 11 am London time--5 am for her, don't you wish she was your mom--and she was STILL 13,000th in the queue. So she waited. and waited. And waited. And finally procured two tickets to see HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD on June 16th and 17th, 2016. Grand Circle, F16 and F17. At that time, those dates felt like some kind of unreachable goal. It would never be June. I would never submit my dissertation and arrive at that fabled date.

But I did. Yesterday.

Who was my partner in crime? The one and only Kristin Brisbois. When she expressed an interest in going, I very bossily informed her that she would only be allowed to accompany me if she'd read all the Harry Potter books by then. So what did she do? She read all seven in five weeks. That's commitment.

Back in March, during Alex's visit, we happened to see the theatre begin to take shape. The title had appeared on the front of the Palace Theatre! And inside, things were beginning to take shape...

And then June hit, and we were all a flurry of dissertation-writing and stress. Yet still, the dates of the 16th and 17th hung on my calendar like an unreachable mirage. The theatre started emailing me reminders, and Kristin got us Gryffindor bows to wear (we are both true Gryffindors). As the dissertations were submitted, excitement began to build once again. Cast photos were released, and previews began very quietly. JK began her #KeeptheSecrets campaign, which meant the previews opened softly (as softly as a packed two-night theatre event can be).

And then, just like that ... the day for pt 1 arrived!!

Now the tickets we got are for the preview weeks. The actual big opening of the play isn't for some time. This means that they are still working out the kinks, and we got the see the play during its organic creation period. Picking up our tickets from the box office was an ordeal in itself, and they warned us to arrive an hour early for a reason. We had to wait in a stunning queue and then our tickets had been misplaced so we were given duplicates and instructed to return to the box office for our pt 2 tickets the following evening.

We went around to the other queue to get in the theatre, had our bags checked, and then went in to check out the merch--it is limited, but only available on site. Kristin and I both got t-shirts to wear the second night.

Our seats in the Grand circle were PERFECT--we could see everything, and there are some benefits to sitting high for this show. The story is told over two nights (or, if you're crazy, you can watch all five hours in one afternoon. Do not recommend this.), each 2 and a half hours with a twenty minute intermission. We left the first evening in a state of sheer amazement. I had to have a glass of wine to settle down enough to sleep. We went early again the second night, got our duplicate tickets from the box office and returned to our old reliable seats wearing our new t-shirts!

Part 2! 

What can I say about the show? Well I won't say much for fear of ruining one of the many amazing surprises in store. The magic and effects were baffling, eliciting gasps of wonder from an audience that was comprised of loyal Potter-fans. The performances, particularly those of Anthony Boyle and Jamie Parker, were heartfelt and poignant. The show felt like reading one of the books--it didn't have the Hollywood gloss of the films (which for much of the franchise didn't quite connect with me the way the books did I must admit, though I still love them and have re-watched them often). The director, John Tiffany, also directed Once, and Cursed Child retained that show's intimacy and austerity. Somehow, the stage play evoked the same wonder and excitement in me that reading the books for the first time did. After so many years, feeling that again was such a gift. One thing to expect: This play is in no way affiliated with Warner Bros. That means that the music is different, the uniforms and Hogwarts banners are different. You have been warned. That being said, the music was excellent and the design crew has done really awe-inspiring work. For not being a musical, the play featured some really gorgeous choreography (think about the cloaks, people).

So ... My mom's determination in getting us the tickets make her the true hero of the hour. Thank you Cursed Child for a night of true imagination and love! Sharing another two evenings with Harry Potter was about as good as it gets.

Courtauld Summer Ball

It was truly the event of the season! After submitting our dissertations the Thursday before, the Courtauld celebrated with a night at the Savile Club for the Summer Ball! Duchy House was a flutter with preparations, and several of my Medievalist friends came over to get ready with me. I ended up getting to do makeup for several friends, which is always a treat. The rain was pouring, but provided break enough to get us to the ball unscathed!

Claudia and I on a red double-decker (aka pumpkin carriage)

The evening began with a champagne reception in the luxurious upstairs of the Savile. After days of cheap prosecco celebrating our papers going in, the champagne was wonderful. We toasted out on the veranda before going in to listen to a string quartet (I am not kidding here, folks). There was even a cheeky magician. 

We were then led into a dinner that looked a lot like a wedding reception (us getting married to our MAs, maybe). It was absolutely gorgeous, with clouds painting on the ceiling and flowers everywhere. The food was superb (besides a rather meh dessert and an odd red wine choice, but the crab was amazing) and the company even more so.

                                 

After dinner, the party was waiting for us downstairs. There was a bar and a Photo Booth as well as a dance floor. 

 A Selection of Photo booth examples hahaha

Needless to say, we shut the place down and wished we could've stayed longer. What a night!

Hauser & Wirth: Felix Gonzalez-Torres Exhibition

Today, a group of us went over to the Hauser & Wirth to see the Felix Gonzalez-Torres retrospective. Spread across three of their galleries in different cities, the London portion was very small, but his work is incredibly poignant.

FGT was an artist in New York City during the AIDS pandemic in the 1990s, and eventually died of AIDS in 1996. He is well known for his installations, which are very interactive and address themes of temporality, mortality, and, perhaps most powerfully, his love for his partner, Ross Laycock, who died in 1991. Some of the most famous include his clocks Untitled (Perfect Lovers) (1991) and Portrait of Ross in L.A. (1991), a pile of candy which viewers were offered to take. Both made the year Laycock died--a very prolific period for the artist--they are celebrations of their love as well as performances of grief. The clocks run side by side in perfect synchronicity, one for Gonzalez-Torres, and the other for his lover. Eventually, the batteries in one clock die and the clock stops, leaving the other to tick alone. The batteries are not replaced, and at some point, both clocks stop.

Untitled (Perfect Lovers) (1991)

In Portrait of Ross in L.A., each visitor to the installation takes a piece of him away with them, in an act of both obliteration and perpetuation. The candy pile itself dissipates, but each person eats of piece of the candy, becoming a part of the artwork themselves.

Portrait of Ross in L.A. (1991)

So neither of those pieces were in this small exhibition, but they are a good introduction to the artist's work. The Hauser & Wirth exhibition, curated by artists who knew FGT, had many of his puzzle works, meant to evoke the fragility of life and representation. A pair of two mirrors stand on the wall and invite viewers to enter the perspective of the artist and his love. On another wall, two light bulbs hang together, lit 24/7. They were both lit when we were there, but there is the expectation that eventually one, and then the other, will burn out. 

 Two of the puzzle works

Overall, it felt like a very understated, but tasteful, hanging. There were no wall plaques, so some previous knowledge was useful. They did provide a work list as well as a press release. 

Finished that Dissertation!!

Yesterday was dissertation hand-in day, and though I turned it in a little early out of fear of the great Storming-of-the-Printers-in-the-Library, the true celebration began when everyone had their essays in. There seemed to be champagne around every corner. And what a relief! After weeks and weeks of tense looks, half-hearted shrugs when asked about well-being, and armloads of books, everyone is free to enjoy summer in London!

In all seriousness, though, completing this dissertation was an amazing experience, and I learned an enormous amount from the process of turn-in and revision. I could not be more impressed by my dissertation supervisor, who spent so much time and effort working with me on my paper and pushing me to improve it. That kind of investment is exactly what I would like in a PhD supervisor (which I will hopefully have one day. Here's hopin'! )

Stowe 17 celebrating right along with me

June is going to be chock full of activities, and then my mom arrives at the beginning of July. We will return home together on July 10th (a day after my birthday!) This Sunday is the much-anticipated Summer Ball, and then in one week I will be going to see HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD. I've also got a trip to the Hague planned in late July--stay tuned!