POTTED POTTER, created and performed by Daniel Clarkson and Jeff Turner, is on a world tour and it sold out last time they were in Sydney in 2012.
This is a magical experience of course and whatever magic potion these performers take before the show, I want some. They hurl themselves around the stage in a manic 70 minute ‘tour de theatre’ billed as, ”All 7 Harry Potter Books in 70 minutes.” All seven books are definitely there in one form or another. So are the loved characters of this well-thumbed world. Naturally, the un-nameable evil character we love to hate is there too.
Dan arrives in the auditorium without fanfare as Jeff sits on the train at platform 9 3/4 reading book number one. Dan interacts with young and old alike, shaking hands and getting high fives while admiring the many audience costumes. Jeff is engrossed in the book. Dan, who has HP1 emblazoned on his shirt then introduces HP2 (Jeff) as the world’s greatest Harry Potter expert and the boys discuss the show they have got for us. The houselights are still up but the pair have the audience’s rapt attention.
It doesn’t look like much says Jeff: remember all that money I gave you for flying Ford Prefects and 20 trained actors? Dan cheerfully admits that he spent the money on a Phoenix (a trip there anyway) and the dragon effect in Book Four. Happily, he offers an unveiling of the set he has handmade and announces that he will play all the other characters himself, even though he hasn’t read the books. Now, with the concept of the show clear and the stripped down touring set explained away, houselights fade and our Nimbus 2000 awaits to carry us to ‘Warthogs’. Remember, Dan hasn’t read the books!
These are funny blokes. They improvise with each other and with the audience. Their set pieces are hilariously entertaining and still freshly presented. There is no sense of tiredness here even after a long tour. The show has well-paced and executed audience interaction. There is slapstick and physical comedy. There are lots of jokes for the adults like digs at Vladimir Putin and reference to a certain heroine at the UN but the grownup stuff is irrelevant unless you are a complete muggle.
What thrills here, are the images created and sustained. Despite Dan’s clueless set and a dodgy dragon in the fourth book. Every new hat, prop, puppet or wand draws us further into author JK Rowling’s fantasy creation. How else does one explain a game of Quidditch conjured out of a blow up globe, a lighting effect and a willing audience?
When kids are brave and throw themselves into a created world, it’s the most wonderful thing for an adult to watch. Tonight, I was reminded of a time over 50 years ago. Watched by my Nan, I was sitting in a darkened auditorium holding a penny in my hand and yelling at the stage. ‘I believe in fairies’ called out all the kids so that Tinkerbell wouldn’t die. Tonight, like the many grandmothers there for a night out with the grandkids, I went to the show expecting to watch the little ones enjoying themselves. Yet, I was doing the yelling too. Gryffindor. Gryffindor. Gryffindor. Just like all the other silver haired ladies: and grey haired men and the adolescents and parents of Hermiones or Rons and the rowdy Millennials who filled out the audience.
This show is so invigorating that I left with a spring in my step. Perhaps that magic potion is energy, enthusiasm and a fantasy to share across generations. Take a kid with you or be brave and go on your own but don’t miss seeing this show.
POTTED POTTER is playing the Sydney Theatre at Walsh Bay until 26th October with 2 matinees each on Saturday and Sunday.