When I heard that the SHS Drama Club’s fall play was “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” I knew I needed to see it in person. I saw it on Broadway years ago, and I loved it. And, of course, the SHS production definitely lived up to the professional version. I attended opening night on Thursday, Nov. 20.

“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” is an original story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. The story is based around Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy’s children 19 years after the original events of the books. Albus, Harry and Ginny’s son, befriends Scorpius, Draco’s son, which sparks a new journey for them all.

Off the bat, the set was absolutely beautiful. Because the play is so fast-paced, scenes change rapidly. That means that the crew and actors need to move set pieces quickly on and off the stage. Because of the fast-paced nature of the show, you definitely will not be bored.

The original play is over five hours long. This version is just two. SHS Drama Club Vice President Xander Chen, who plays Albus Potter, said that the high school version was cut down before the directors and actors even got their hands on it.

“The difficulty of that is that a lot of the plot is actually missing from the show,” Chen said. “The audience doesn’t get all of the comments that are actually made.…But we manage.”

There were tons of set pieces involved in the production, including a large pipe system, a bed, a staircase, a moving bookcase and honestly too many to even count. Nothing ever looked out of place, keeping the audience entrenched in the magical world the entire time. Drama Club Secretary Anna Burchard, who plays Hermione Granger, said that the play is definitely worth the watch.

“There’s so much cool magic that happens on stage,” Burchard said. “There is so much work everyone put into it. It’s just a really good time, and a good story.”

All the ensemble and transition scenes were lively and hilarious. The choreography was done masterfully, particularly in the scenes where the time-turner was used.

Among my favorites was when Albus and Scorpius arrived at St. Mungos, a wizarding hospital. The ridiculous costumes, posture and demeanor of the old witches and wizards were hilarious and kept my attention ceaselessly.

All the special effects and magical tricks were pulled off seamlessly. From polyjuice potion, to an invisibility cloak, to even magical scenes in the audience: Drama Club brought the Harry Potter magic straight to SHS.

“They are magic,” Chen said. “One of the magic tricks…[is] one person is about to inflate and they get bigger and bigger and bigger until they’re about to burst. I worked on that magic trick, and I love it”

The magical scene that starts in the audience, which I will keep the details of as a surprise because it’s just that good, was absolutely my favorite part of the entire show.

When it began, shocked whispers of “oohs” and “ahhs” broke out across the audience.

“I’m very proud of how they turned out,” Chen said, when referring to this scene. “Especially when someone in the audience screamed.”

The actors spoke in British accents for the entire show. While some accents were better than others, I found them all extremely endearing. The station master’s heavy, Scottish accent, executed excellently by freshman Sanya Pelonde, was my favorite.

Ron Weasley, who was played by Finley Barron, was an absolutely phenomenal character.

As my friend said: “I’m not sure if Ron Weasley was based off of Finley Barron, or if Finley Barron was based off of Ron Weasley.”

Ron’s character added a lot of much-needed comedic relief throughout the show, making the show funny and thigh-slapping even in the most somber of moments.

On that note, this show was hilarious. All the jokes landed.

So, what did I love the most? It had to be the storyline.

The plot is interesting and perfectly follows the legacy of the original Harry Potter books. Though I already knew a majority of the plot going in, the story of a father and son coming together under the weight of the past will always make me tear up.

“It is nothing like plays we’ve done in the past,” Chen said. “There’s a lot of depth of character, but this one takes that and adds on. It takes all of the magic, all of the special effects, all of the world that people know from their childhood and expands on that.”

There are three shows left. They are on Friday and Saturday at 7:00 p.m., and Sunday at 2:00 p.m.. You can buy tickets on the SHS Drama Club website or at the box office, in-person before the show. Do not miss out on this performance, it is truly a spectacle.

“I hope that [the audience] sees all of the hard work that we put into it,” Burchard said. “And, I hope that they are like: ‘wow the magic’ and they’re like ‘how did that work?.’ I hope that they see it as an extension of the story that they might already know.”