Potted Potter / From the UK, Hosted by Shakespeare Theatre Company
In short, Potted Potter couldn’t be more fun and charming. If you like the Harry Potter franchise, and especially if you have kids who are fans, you should go see this show.
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| Daniel Clarkson and Jeff Turner in Potted Potter. Photo by Brian Friedman. |
The play, whose full title is Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience, A Parody by Dan and
Jeff, is a 2-man, 70-minute riff on the entire Harry Potter series. It
started out as a street performance, created by the actors Daniel Clarkson and
Jefferson Turner, that was performed for people waiting in line to buy the
sixth Potter book. It grew from there
and quickly became a hit at Fringe festivals, on tour in the UK and US, and in
London’s West End.
While hitting all of the highlights of the Potter saga,
the play is also about two actors, ‘Dan’ and ‘Jeff’, trying to put on this
show. Jeff is the one leading the charge
to tell the Harry story. Unfortunately,
he is trying to do so with his friend Dan, who, despite his claims to the
contrary, hasn’t read the books at all and is faking his way through this
entire thing. His lack of knowledge
doesn’t keep him from trying, though.
For example, he was in charge of building the set and so, of course, he created
a wardrobe so Harry and friends could travel to Narnia.
The show is filled with more silliness along these lines. A good parallel is the Reduced Shakespeare
Company’s shows like The Complete History
of America (Abridged) and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
(Abridged). It is packed with quick
costume and character changes, silly hats, lots of props, funny accents, and
prat falls. There are quick strings of jokes, improvised bits (and scripted
bits that feel improvised), and even some low-risk/low-stakes audience
participation, including an epic game of Quidditch involving a beach ball.
Potted Potter
probably isn’t for people who haven’t yet read the books (or seen the movies),
but want to someday, as it doesn’t shy away from telling major plot
points. If you don’t care about
spoilers, though, you could go and just enjoy the sheer energy and
theatricality of the performance. And,
if you know the Potter story, you will have a great time seeing your favorite
parts of the story (kind-of) come to life.
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| Jeff Turner and Daniel Clarkson in Potted Potter. Photo by Brian Friedman. |
Tickets start at $45.
Runtime: about 1 hour 10 minutes with no intermission
Runs through September 15, 2013
STC, Sidney Harman Hall
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