London – A new smash hit Harry Potter play won Olivier British theatre awards for best director, best actor and seven other categories at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Sunday.
Jamie Parker, who plays Harry Potter in the play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” in London’s West End, took the Olivier for best actor, while John Tiffany was named best director at the 41st annual awards ceremony.
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” also won the awards for best new play, best supporting actor and actress, best set design, best sound design, best lighting design and best costume design.
The Harry Potter play was nominated in 11 categories, equalling the record for Olivier nominations.
Based on an original new story by Harry Potter author JK Rowling, writer Jack Thorne and writer-director John Tiffany, the play opened at the Palace Theatre in London in mid 2016.
Featuring illusions and effects that seem like magic, the first official stage production of a Harry Potter story explores what is considered the eighth book in Rowling’s Harry Potter series.
“British theatre hasn’t known anything like it for decades,” The Daily Telegraph said in a review, while the Finanacial Times called it “thrilling, gripping, dark, wittily acted and visually dazzling.”
The play portrays Harry as “an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.”
“While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted,” says an introduction on the play’s website.
“As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.”
