One of the silliest, funniest shows I have seen in ages 
here's my Sydney Arts Guide reveiw
http://www.sydneyartsguide.com/View-Review.asp?ReviewID=1256

Witches, wizards and Muggles of all ages will love this magical, hilarious riot. The house was in hysterical fits of laughter the whole show. Some audience members  wore wizard robes.

‘The un authorised Harry experience’, it is for Harry Potter fans of all ages .It is I suppose  best if you and love the books and movies and have a yearning to study or teach at Hogwarts . In ‘Reduced Shakespeare ‘/’One Man Lord of the Rings’ style it is an epic, witty distillation of the seven books by JK Rowling and follow Harry’s  life and adventures at Hogwarts.

The over three hundred characters in the books are here all played by two magnificent actors: Jesse Briton and Garry Trainor in exuberant form. This is the terrific Sydney cast of a show that originally began as a five minute skit in London in 2005.

Developed by Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner, it has packed out audiences in London, Edinburgh and Canada , is nominated for Olivier awards  and now is touring internationally. Fast paced, madcap and witty, the Potter books are treated and distilled with massive love and respect but the jokey, improvised feel is still there.

The set at the beginning has a large soft toy nursery version of a train engine , doubling as the famous Hogwart’s Express .There are also  sheet covered mysterious items eventually revealed as a coffin ( spooky ) – relating to the darker side of the books , a wardrobe ( that opens for  a blank screen) and a brightly painted flat for The Forbidden Forest .  

Slighter taller, thinner Briton appears to be the more ‘zany’ of the two and has great fun playing an enormous number of characters with different wigs, props, voices etc. Including an authoritatively wicked Lord Voldemort (ssshhh – You Know Who)  with devil’s horns.  

Trainor mostly plays Harry and is seemingly the more controlled and responsible one. Both act as narrator in parts and are identically dressed in blue jeans and a black tshirt .Both are extremely energetic and flexible and obviously have a whale of a time, performing with great comic timing and dexterity.

Much fun is had with puppetry for a couple of the characters (eg Dobby) and there is great use of a powerpoint/cgi screen effect to whizz us through Book 3 . There is also very effective ‘magical ‘ lighting at times ( eg the Deluminator , and the wizard duels. ).

There are so many highlights but special mention must be made of the various appearances of Ron Weasley , Hermoine Grainger , Dobby the house elf, Hagrid, Sirius Black  and Dumbledore among others.  And the fabulous Quidditch game that has the whole audience participating is glorious fun. (The appearance of the ‘golden snitch ‘is a hilarious show stopper).

The finale, with the duet by Harry and Voldemort to ‘I Will Survive’ is a wickedly witty way to end the show . Book now.

POTTED POTTER, with a running time of 90 minutes, is playing at the  Sydney Theatre between the 9th and 14th October and then tours. For more information visit the website at http://www.pottedpotter.com.au/tour-dates

Tags: Sydney Theatre Reviews- POTTED POTTER, Sydney Theatre, Sydney Theatre, Lynne Lancaster, Sydney Arts Guide