11 minute read
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
from Beat 1697
by Furst Media
REVIEW: HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD
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Words By Claire Morley
Uttered in an episode of Rick and Morty, those words rang out in my mind as I was seated in the Princess Theatre. The ultimate shark jump, time travel as a plot device can be at best confusing, at worst lazy, and almost always illogical and full of holes. And this worried me. There are holes in the logic of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, of which time travel is the central plot device - and holes in a particular smoking gun/blanket - but the plot is ultimately not what matters here. This show is utter magic (how original) and that triumph lies not in the story, but in the presentation.
This new version of the play condenses the story, which was originally staged over two halves running close to six hours, into under three hours. Three wonderful hours, at that.
I cannot emphasise this enough - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was one of the most spectacular performances that I have been lucky enough to witness. No review I’ve read has come close to truly painting a picture of how mind-blowing the practical effects of this show are.
It’s a kind of visual poetry that cannot be done justice by the English language. I promise you – you have never seen anything like it before. Wizards fly through the air, and seemingly disappear into it. Paper flies into a neat pile from a messy desk, actors transform into other actors, furniture levitates and spins, wizards are eaten by a bookcase and in perhaps the most incredible moment of the show, dementors descend from the roof and fly above the crowd. The willowy, wispy robes floating with gossamer thin weightlessness were so eerily beautiful and terrifying - I literally screamed.
I loudly gasped multiple times throughout the performance. The experience was visceral and all-absorbing. Part of why it’s hard to describe this show is in the desire to not spoil the shocks and surprises along the way. It felt like a magic show. Although though many of the effects were easily explained, there were some that felt like real life wizardry – (pointy) hats off to the visual effects department, this is a world class show created by people at the top of their game.
This is theatre done right.
But not perfectly. At times, the plot reads more like fan fiction than a legitimate entry in the Potter canon and the cut down runtime created a frenetic pacing that would have benefitted from time to breathe.
A lot of dialogue was cut to retain the spectacle of the show at the shorter runtime, and that does make for an emotional deficit and disconnect - particularly from the show’s central villain.
But ultimately, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in its original format was long and expensive. Not everyone can afford the time or cost of that experience. This newer, shorter version makes the show more accessible in so many ways, and that is something to be celebrated.
As is the queer representation that is so beautifully on display between the two young leads.
The plot follows Potter’s son, Albus, and his unlikely ‘best friend’ (read: first love) Scorpius Malfoy as they come of age and come to terms with the weight of their parents’ actions and fame. Although it’s never explicitly stated, the play is littered with evidence that their relationship is amorous. A central theme of the play centres around Albus and Scorpius’ love for each other being the one force powerful enough to triumph over evil. They are completely devoted to each other, frequently gaze into each other’s eyes, and at one point Albus confides in his father that Scorpius is, and may always be, the most important person in his life. Harry Potter’s arc in the play reads like a parent trying to understand and lean how to be supportive of his child’s queerness – at first he’s a confused, angry, stubbornly dismissive parent, which eventually melts away into acceptance.
The chemistry between Malfoy and Potter was off the charts, albeit frustratingly chaste. By far my biggest criticism of the show is ultimately that they didn’t pash after their moody wand duel (I told you it reads like fan fiction). So perhaps the plot is due more credit. For as much as the pyrotechnics and special effects were impressive, there was still enough heart to match.
Plenty of substance beneath the flash.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is playing at the Princess Theatre until October 16
There’s a huge art and culture festival coming to East Gippsland this winter
The East Gippsland Winter Festival is set to light up Victoria’s east with more than 80 spectacular events over three weeks.
Coinciding with the winter solstice and the Victorian school holidays, the East Gippsland Winter Festival is a unity of art, culture and food that will run from June 17 until July 10. Complete with regional art displays and performances, light shows, live music, dining experiences, multimedia events and more, the East Gippsland Winter Festival attracted close to 20,000 visitors last year alone.
From a Laneway Party to fine dining experiences, there are tons of events on over the three weeks – including free lantern-making workshops, cultural ceremonies and experiences led by traditional Indigenous owners, long lunches that showcase local produce and nature activities such as bush walks, yoga and meditation.
Not to be missed is the F/LAMP Exhibition at Iceworks Studio in Lakes Entrance, where local artists exhibit their luminous lamp creations. On July 2 there’s a Medieval Bonfire Night in Bruthen, complete with sword fights, costumes and a huge feast. On June 18, explore a laneway in Bairnsdale for Beer, Beats and BBQ in Laneway3875 – an event featuring live musicians performing while you indulge in culinary delights and be dazzled by spectacular lighting projections. A highlight of this year’s festival includes a three day ‘Deep in the Weeds’ long weekend held by the famous Orbost brewery, Sailors Grave Brewing. With a selection of live music, wonderful local craft beers and food provided by Meatsmith, this event takes place from July 8 until July 10 and is not to be missed by anyone who likes a good craft beer.
“The festival really brings the community together,” says Adam Bloem, the festival founder and director. “The collaborative efforts of locals working together to organise spectacular events and displays for their own towns really is quite amazing.”
The 2022 East Gippsland Winter Festival runs from June 17 - July 10. Made in partnership with East Gippsland Winter Festival
KAIJU! Cantina: Hume’s stellar new venue
KAIJU! Beer creators, brewers and brothers Nat and Callum Reeves have opened a converted warehouse KAIJU! Cantina where you can dine in and sample some of their spine-tingling creations on tap.
Featuring mid-century retro-future décor that makes you feel like you’ve stepped back into a 50s diner, this 445 square metre converted warehouse offers some of the tastiest beer and pizza in the south. With 16 beers on tap at any given time, the menu includes all the KAIJU! favourites, as well as rotating limited releases and collaboration brews with local up and coming brewers and brewing students. For the bright and playful murals that line the cantina’s walls, they’ve bought along long-term KAIJU! collaborator Mikey Burton – the artist behind the beer’s distinctive labelling and artwork. Chef Jay Jafari takes to the kitchen, where he’ll be drawing on his pizza making experiences that have seen him travel across kitchens in France, the United States and Canada. Armed with a state of the art pizza oven he’ll be preparing classic pizzas such as Capricciosa and Funghi, as well as more experimental ones, like the Cheeseburger Pizza.
They’ve also got a tropical pizza (a great pairing with the brewery’s iconic KAIJU! Krush Tropical Pale Ale) and a huge selection of vegan, gluten-free and kids meal options, it’s the perfect place for any gathering. “The idea for KAIJU! Cantina is that it doesn’t just cater to craft beer connoisseurs, but that the food is just as big a drawcard in making it a destination venue. Jay has been hand-stretching bases for 20 years and as a result, has an uncanny ability to make a superb pizza — every single time. I can’t wait for people to discover and fall in love with his food,” said Callum. KAIJU! Cantina is located a stone’s throw from Huntingdale Station, Chadstone Shopping Centre and Monash University’s Clayton Campus Open Wednesday to Thursday from 4pm ‘til late and Friday to Sunday from midday until late. The venue accepts walk-ins, but seats will get snapped up fast so make sure to book in busier periods by heading here.
This article was made in partnership with KAIJU! Cantina
KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD
What makes King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard so damn unique?
Words By Sidonie Bird De La Coeur
Credit Jason Galea
Legends of Australian psychedelic rock, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are known for their hectic work ethic, with the release of Omnium Gatherum marking their 20th studio album – and the band’s first double album.
Meaning a collection of miscellaneous people or things, Omnium Gatherum is a two-hour long journey through tracks that range from prog-rock jams to rubber-legged hip-hop to pure thrash-metal abandon - capturing the variety of styles that the band are capable of, as well as the varied methods of recording they used throughout the process of the album’s creation.
“Omnium really ranges – the whole gamut – from all of us in a room to one person doing everything,” says Lucas Harwood, King Gizz’s bass player. “It just depends on what’s happening at the time … we don’t put any pressure on each other, it’s just like whoever’s there, whoever’s keen, to get involved to record songs. There’s no rules really, and that’s the best thing about Gizzard.”
“The first track ‘The Dripping Tap’ was created when we were all in a room jamming together, I guess that’s something that happens less and less these days – well, especially in the last couple of years with lockdowns.”
Their three latest releases before Omnium Gatherum – 2020’s K.G. and 2021’s L.W. and Butterfly 3000 – were all recorded under the constraints of Melbourne’s many lockdowns, with the band members recording their parts separately to a grid track. I asked whether recording in isolation had changed Gizz’s perspective on the process of recording. “We’ve just learned a lot of new things – just experimented with a lot of new instruments and tricks and getting more into that computer world. Now we’re slowly using modular synths on stage with sequencers and stuff, which naturally seeps into everything else that we’re doing.”
“The three albums preceding Omnium were very much all done in isolation, with each of us working on our own individual parts and sending it back and forward. I guess this one was a combination of all of those different writing styles – from all of us jamming in a room, to Cookie’s song ‘Garden Goblin’ which was pretty much him. I think he did like, everything on that, and a few of the other guys did a few little overdubs.”
Known for their endless experimentation across genres, King Gizzard’s sound has morphed and evolved with every album – from Butterfly 3000’s new age trance pop, to a heavy metal barrage with Infest the Rat’s Nest.
“You can see a pattern of this throughout our albums – there will be a song on our albums that’s kind of an outlier and it’s kind of this seed, this idea that influences the concept of the next.” “Stu was working on some of these Omnium songs before the Butterfly 3000 songs, so some of that sequencing and those arpeggiators on songs like ‘Evilest Man’ actually preceded Butterfly and influenced those modular sounds that came on Butterfly.”
“It’s just the constant journey of trying to learn and do new things and push ourselves creatively … you can even pick up a $20 piece of crap Casio keyboard from an op-shop and it has a random sound on it that is just way more inspiring than a $2000 Nord organ. It just shifts something in your brain to do something differently.”
Currently in the States, the band are in the midst of a mammoth world tour that will see them playing shows across Europe, the US and Mexico. “It’s been awesome, it’s just so good to be on the road again. It’s been so satisfying to just get over here and get into the swing of it again.
“It’s been two and a half years since we’ve done this type of touring, playing four, five, six nights a week, and just becoming gig fit again – becoming a tight band. You lose that pretty quickly if you’re not playing often.” Playing a different set-list every night of their almost yearlong tour, one of the best parts of King Gizzard’s ever-energetic live shows is their constant variety.
“From this tour so far we’ve played, like 88 different songs. We’re trying to get to 100 by the end of the tour, which I think we’ll do but I think that’s about the cap of what your brain capacity can recall, without practising for hours a day. That’s what makes us unique, and what I think makes fans come to shows – and come to multiple shows – ‘coz it’s not the same every night.”
Omnium Gatherum is out now via KGLW
