Smash hit Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience makes its magical return to Toronto
Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience – A Parody by Dan and Jeff, or Potted Potter, for ease, currently playing at Panasonic Theatre, is an absolute riot. The production takes on the challenge of condensing all seven Harry Potter books into seventy minutes using only two actors. Seventy minutes was actually closer to ninety but it is time well spent. The play is fast, clever and lots of fun.
The piece was written and created by Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner who have had success writing and performing in several parodies including Potted Pirates and Potted Panto. The two are not performing in this run and have appointed alternating performers. The evening I attended, Benjamin Stratton and James Percy took on the show. The actors have great chemistry and were clearly having a blast on stage. They worked so well together it was hard to believe that they didn’t write the play—it truly felt like their piece.
Percy plays Harry Potter while Stratton carries out most of the other roles, donning silly costume pieces and wigs to differentiate the many characters. Both performers throw incredible amounts of manic energy into their performances and although I think most of the improvisational bits were actually worked out in advance, they are so skilled at it that it seemed very natural and fluid. Audience participation is required and they were quick at integrating and spinning what they were getting from the participants. There were times when the actors were cracking each other up on stage and that made them even more likable.
Potted Potter is great fun, but it got off to a bit of a slow start for me. I was entertained throughout, but things really started to cook with fire when the audience was broken into two groups and assigned to play a game of Quidditch. This involved a beach ball and two large hoops with the audience working together to try and get their team’s ball into the opposing hoop. After the game, the show continued to clip along at a solid pace.
This Starvox Entertainment production of Potted Potter is such a treat for the kids and is a wonderful family outing. I have read the series and seen some of the films so I could appreciate a lot of the humor, but even if you aren’t familiar with Potter-mania, this is still a very entertaining show. There are lots of very funny bits that make it perfectly accessible for kids but remains sophisticated enough for the adults to enjoy.
Potted Potter plays at the Panasonic Theatre on Yonge Street until January 11.
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