‘Cursed Child’ Producer & Playwright Pre-Olivier Awards Excitement!

Sonia Friedman, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany, J.K. Rowling and team have made an absolutely astounding production in Cursed Child, and their achievements have not gone unnoticed. The play is up for a record-breaking 11 Olivier Awards at this Sunday’s ceremony.

Producer Sonia  Friedman is the woman who made Cursed Child (and a huge number of other stage productions) happen, along with Colin Callendar, and she has been nominated for another record-breaking 31 awards. Friedman tells in this interview with the Telegraph how she cried when she originally met J.K. Rowling, and saw Cursed Child as her ‘baby’. Her newest production, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour will open at the Duke of York’s Theatre on London’s West End from 15th May (previews from 9th May) opened at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh last year. The full cast list has just been announced, along with information on how to buy tickets, which you can find here.

Jack Thorne’s new production Junkyard has received highly positive reviews during its run in theatres across the UK, and he’s set to bring Woyzeck to London Old Vic Theatre’s stage next month with Star Wars star, John Boyega, who he describes as ‘absolutely amazing’. Thorne’s excitement for the Oliviers and humble pride in the play’s success so far is shared with London News Online: 

“It’s been amazing and I feel very grateful to be a part of it. I’m sure if it does get a long life and if it’s still running, it will start to change the way I feel about things. It was so exciting to be part of it and it remains so exciting to be part of it.”

He commented on his musical, Junkyard, which was composed by Academy Award winning Stephen Warbeck:

“The kids are based on a mix of stories I’ve been told and a bit of research I’ve done. I was a learning support worker too when I left college so there’s a bit of everything. There’s a bit of my friends growing up and there’s a bit of me. There’s a mish mash.”

“The way the music has been constructed by the great Stephen Warbeck is not very conventional. It’s not like a classic musical where someone breaks out into an aria. This is much more rough and ready than that. There are moments every now and then when a sentence will be sung and there’s an interaction with the band all the time. That was also a way of making this feel a bit anarchic.”

On his take of Woyzeck, set in 1980s Germany:

“It’s often been adapted by writers, who have captured the poetry of it. What I’ve tried to do is tell it a bit more straightforwardly as a tragedy and so it’s probably the most mainstream version Woyzeck’s seen in a while. Whether that’s good or bad, I don’t know but it’s been really amazing to work on it.”

In another interview with the Daily Post, Thorne spoke more about his nerves in recreating Harry Potter through Cursed Child:

“Nobody else had ever written anything that Harry Potter has ever said before apart from JK – so that was terrifying.

“But I was very lucky in that I had her there the whole way, ready to say no, that’s not right, or that’s interesting and that’s good.”

He also speaks more about his BAFTA wins, and Junkyard. Read the full piece here.

In other Cursed Child news, Sam Clemmett (Albus Severus Potter) returned to Norfolk – his home county – to inspire young performers by working with them on their new show (A Clockwork Orange). See a video below, and read more here!

Many of the original cast of Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre in London are set to leave next month, and you can find out more about the new cast (from 24th May 2017) here.  Original cast members Jamie Parker, Noma Dumezweni and Anthony Boyle have all been nominated for Olivier Awards, so be sure to check our Twitter and Facebook, as we’ll be providing live updates from awards on Twitter, and updates on wins on Facebook!