A stage full of student actors dressed in black cloaks and yielding wands or smoking beakers ushered in the magic of J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, High School Edition” to Summit High School Saturday night, Nov. 8. Performances by the cast and the well-timed actions of the stage crew brought the beloved characters and enchanted setting to life for an eager audience of friends and fans. 

The script continues the story of the mega bestselling book series by J.K. Rowling and finds its main characters — Harry, Ron and Hermione, now adults — sending their children to the famous Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. Thanks to some time travel, the drama explores how differently the original series might have ended if the smallest tweaks were made to its story.

Leading the cast were Satori Adnan as Albus Potter and Sonnett Renoux as Scorpius Malfoy. Adnan and Renoux gave performances as the Hogwarts outsiders who find a friend in each other. Adnan’s character appealed to the audience’s empathy as an angsty teen boy wrestling with his identity and feeling misunderstood by his father. Renoux infused her character, an ostracized student who desperately wants a friend, with a bouncy, eager energy and vulnerability. Her delivery brought levity and laughs when her character’s anxious questions battled against the plans of his best friend. “We’re ready to put our lives at risk,” stated Adnan’s character seriously. “Are we?” Renoux’s character countered with a look of disbelief.

Harry Potter, a famous role for any actor, was tackled by senior Henry Billinghurst with a portrayal of the famous “boy who lived.” Billinghurst’s Potter, now a father failing to connect with his son, was both heroic and anxious. The drama between his and Adnan’s character was genuinely felt in an auditorium full of high schoolers and their parents.

Lily Arellano as Ginny Potter, Harry’s wife, embodied all that readers came to love about her character’s mother, Mrs. Weasly. Arellano’s Ginny was warm and loving, while also stern enough to extinguish an argument. 

Adah Wiese and Gavin Nations brought a natural chemistry that Potter fans always hope to see in a portrayal of the beloved odd couple Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. Wiese allowed her character’s professional poise to break with equal parts exasperation and amusement to her husband’s wisecracks. Nations’ goofy deliveries were absolutely true to character as he playfully buzzed around Wiese’s more serious character on stage at times like a mosquito. 

Katherine Eldredge used well-timed body language as Delphi Diggory to subtly hint at her character’s subterfuge in the first act. By Act Two, Eldredge was a convincing half-mad villain, clutching her wand while her eyes gleamed intensely.

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<figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Gavin Nations, from left, with Henry Billinghurst and Adah Wiese portray the famous trio of friends, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger in ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, High School Edition,’ at Summit High School in November 2025.</figcaption><figcaption>Matt Renoux/Summit High School’s Performing Arts Department</figcaption>

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Severus Snape was brought astutely to life by Jazzper Madans, who seemed to perfectly channel Alan Rickman, the character’s famous actor in the movie franchise. Every line was delivered in a dry deadpan with the trademark curtain of dark hair covering half his face. “Let me guess. I die,” Madans delivered. The stiff posture and crossed arms, the slow draw of chalk across the board: Madans was a terrific Snape.

Cayman Pingley managed the fine balance between saccharine sweet and wickedly cruel to embody Dolores Umbridge. Pingley’s slow steps forward on stacked heels, her gaze held above the audience’s heads and her sinister giggle all while dressed in a bubblegum pink costume hit just the right note for the despised Umbridge.

As Draco Malfoy, Peyton Goossen maintained a poised, stern presence throughout the performance, a perfect contrast next to Billinghurst’s anxious Harry Potter. Her “We can hug, too,” line near the end of the performance, said to her character’s son, were well-timed and got the audience laughing. 

Mikaela McConnell shrieked beautifully at the audience as Moaning Myrtle while climbing up and down the plumbing prop as a convincing ghost. Sophie Sullivan cowed her fellow actors as a stern and wise Professor McGonagall. Curran Mullaly folded his tall frame into a wheelchair to become Amos Diggory and vehemently voiced the criticisms his character feels towards Harry Potter.

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<figcaption>Matt Renoux/Summit High School’s Performing Arts Department</figcaption>

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The stage crew’s quick work frequently transformed the simple set into scenery complex enough to allow the characters to pass through time, sneak into offices playing both themselves and then double back as imposters, be swallowed up by a bookshelf and drop down plumbing lines with all the light and sound effects to complete the spell. The stage was a constant whir of motion, giving life to the movement of the Hogwarts Express and the relentless passage of time. 

One scripted scene that earned enthusiastic applause from the audience for its execution was devoid of dialogue, but instead relied on the movement of stairwells to depict the drama of friends forced into separation. Adnan and Renoux let strong emotions play across their features as they silently climbed up and then down, pausing for moments on their individual stairwells which were constantly shifting either toward or apart from each other.

A large “Wandsemble” of local, young students dressed in their wizarding best helped remind the audience of the childlike wonder that many would remember from reading the original book series. This young crew formed the enthusiastic audience on stage for the Tri-Wizard Tournament and helped bring the whirring motion of the stage down the auditorium aisles.

Summit High School’s Performing Arts Department will perform ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,’ three more times. The remaining performances are on Friday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 16, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for students and $20 for adults in advance. All tickets purchased at the door include a $5 surcharge. Tickets can be purchased online at SHSTheatreArtsDept.ludus.com/.