Drawing: Anthony Boyle as Scorpius Malfoy

Anthony Boyle

Little-known Belfast-born actor Anthony Boyle has become the talk of the town after the early wave of reviews flowed in for HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD, PARTS ONE AND TWO. Critics agree that J.K.Rowling’s blockbusting Potter play at the Palace Theatre is a spectacular and stunning production. They are equally unanimous that while the 42 cast members are excellent, one particular character steals the show – Scorpius Malfoy, played by Anthony in his first major role. Henry Hutchings in the Evening Standard described his portrayal as “the most layered and absorbing of all the performances”.

Potter pundits would expect that the son of Draco Malfoy must spell trouble, but the gawky, book-reading, fish out of water with brilliant comic timing, quickly befriends Albus Potter, Harry’s son at Hogwarts as they make their way in the wizarding world. The 22 year-old Anthony, not long out of the the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama has gained a small amount of stage time in his home town and a  minor role in the GAME OF THRONES before his breakout star turn debut on the West End.

I managed to catch up with the amiable young actor at the extremely busy stage door as he quickly slipped out for some nourishment between the matinee PART ONE matinee and the evening’s PART TWO at the World Premiere gala performances on Saturday and he was more than happy to sign this sketch.

Drawing: Lily James as Juliet

Lily James

I couldn’t resist doing another sketch of Lily James as Juliet, currently starring in the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company’s ROMEO AND JULIET as part of the Plays At The Garrick season in the iconic London venue. Matt Trueman wrote in his Variety review, the fawnlike James is “beautifully expressive, stretching the verse like silly putty…”

Lily signed this second drawing for me last week after an evening performance. The production on 13 August.

Drawing: Noma Dumezweni, Jamie Parker and Paul Thornley in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Saturday saw the World Premiere gala performance of HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD, PARTS ONE AND TWO, following six weeks of previews at London’s Palace Theatre.  The eighth story in the Harry Potter adventure, set nineteen years after the final novel ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ is a play by John Thorne, based on an original story by J.K. Rowling and directed by Jack Tiffany. It’s actually split into two plays, cunningly named Part One and Part Two and follows a middle-aged Harry, who is now a Ministry of Magic employee and his son Albus Severus Potter. Originally booking until 18 September, tickets went on sale in October 2015 and immediately sold out, extending the run into next year.

Norma Dumezweni as Hermione Granger, Minister for Magic, Jamie Parker as Harry, Head of Magical Law Enforcement and Paul Thornley as Ron Weasley who is married to Hermione play the leads. Other major casting includes Sam Clemmett as Albus, Poppy Miller as Ginny Potter, Harry’s wife and Cherrelle Skeete as Ron and Hermione’s daughter, Rose Granger-Weasley.

The most pre-ordered book of the year – a ‘Special Rehearsal Edition’ of the script, not a novelisation, went on sale the day after the Premiere (incidentally Harry’s and JK Rowling’s birthdays) with people queuing at bookstores for the midnight release on Saturday. Since revisions were still taking place after it was printed, a ‘Definitive Collector’s Edition’ is due in 2017.

Noma, Jamie and Paul signed this sketch for me in the first week of previews.