Finley Barron

To get ready to present the fall play, SHS Drama Club rehearses their lines backstage in the auditorium. “So far, we are growing into the shoes of the characters that we’re playing,” Ferencie said.

The lights dim, the curtains open and the audience cheers as they’re immersed into the world of Harry Potter. “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: High School Edition” is more than just a production–it’s a real life experience of magic, family and love, according to Solon High School’s Drama Club. The play will run from November 20-23.

SHS Drama Club Director Kris Ferencie said there are some big challenges when it comes to delivering any school play on stage.

“One of the biggest challenges is that we cannot put the movies on the stage,” Ferencie said. 
”If we wanted to do that, we would just play the movies. We don’t want to be infringing upon the copyright. [We’re] making sure that we’re walking that tight rope between all the things that we can, can’t and need to do.”

There are many technicalities that come with making a production of this scale come to life. It may be difficult to execute said Stage Manager Natalie Roder.

“There’s a whole different show [backstage],” Roder said. “It’s gonna be really hard to kind of figure out who’s doing what and how all of it’s timed out because there’s so much that goes on. You have to take a deep breath because the more you panic, it’s gonna cause everyone else to panic, and it’s just not gonna work.”

Although this production may be more difficult than other plays years prior, there’s still lots of joy in the creative process, Ferencie said.

“Translating these iconic characters into our own version, we’re having a ton of fun,” Ferencie said. “I’m not gonna lie, I know for so many people in the cast, they have said, this is like getting to play ‘make believe’ when you’re little. It’s awesome. Even though I didn’t grow up with [the Harry Potter books], us adults, we also have a soft place in our hearts for them too.”

The play brings back the original trio from the books, Harry, Ron and Hermione, who will be played by Jesse Moore, Finley Barron and Anna Burchard respectively. The play picks up right after the epilogue of the final book, in which Harry and Ginny, played by Lilah Anders, send their middle child Albus off to Hogwarts, where he meets Draco Malfoy’s son Scorpius, played by Parker Anders.

Actor and Drama Club Vice President Xander Chen, who is playing the role of Albus, said he really enjoys learning the magic tricks that are brought to life on stage.

“We work really hard to make everything on stage seem real and incredible,” Chen said. “I think the ideas that are swarming around in the directors’ heads and our heads are just fantastic, I love them so much. I hope everyone leaves wondering how we did it.”

Aside from the magic and fantasy in the world of Harry Potter, some real world messages make way into the production, according to Ferencie.

“It’s 19 years later, it picks up right where the last book ends,” Ferencie said. “It is very much a part of the world, but it is also very much the next step in the world. It is a story about parents and their children, and living up to your parents [expectations] and your parents living up to their expectations of you. Harry doesn’t know how to be a dad because he had nobody to model his ‘dadness’ after. So, he’s learning as he goes along. He makes his share of mistakes. It’s a story about parents and children, and how we get along in the world.”

Creating the magic of Harry Potter on stage has been nothing short of euphoric as SHS’s Drama Club works together to produce a heartwarming play, according to Ferencie.

“We’re working really hard on finding all of the nuances in each scene that will make the story really come alive and resonate for our audiences.” Ferencie said. “It’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle to make the best picture that we can.”