Not long after opening at the Palace Theatre, the script has been released for those who haven’t so far managed to book tickets (more are being released on Thursday) – but seems some people aren’t impressed/feel misled. 

The reason that so many people (particularly fans) are disappointed are because they were under the impression that it was the eighth ‘book’ in the series. Wrong. J.K. Rowling has always made it clear that it was a script of the play rather than a full blown novel and in my mind and as a Harry Potter fan this is acceptable – particularly if fans won’t be able to get to see the show this seems like a great alternative. It even might get readers to start reading other plays before going to see the show – even Shakespeare.

To hear how badly people have taken the news that it is in fact a script just doesn’t seem fair. Yes technically J.K. Rowling didn’t write it all but she still had a massive input into the creation of the story and the use of the characters that she created all those years ago. It seems that people aren’t willing to give it the chance it deserves.

Does this mean that when the Fantastic Beasts film coming out later this year that people are going to be disappointed because there is no Hogwarts involved? Yes people were made aware that the film will be set in a different era to the Harry Potter films and this is in fact a spin off – but it is the same thing in this case as well. It was made very clear exactly what direction this book was going to take – that even the biggest fans shouldn’t have been surprised when they opened the book up to read it.

This writer wasn’t going to buy a copy of the script until I went to see the play early next year, but now I find myself wondering if I should to see what all the fuss is about in terms of being disappointed. When I have read it I will post a few thoughts -to hopefully sort out some of the criticisms.

Finally, my plea to fans. If you love Harry Potter as much as I do then don’t dismiss it completely – be grateful that Rowling has given us an opportunity to visit Harry’s world again and show us what he has been up to since the last book, yes it is in a different way than you are used to – but that doesn’t mean the characters aren’t any less accessible.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is available to buy through Amazon now.