It's the unexpected third member of Potted Potter who
makes the show.
The Unauthorised Harry Experience features Gary Trainor
and Jesse Briton. Trainor plays Harry and Briton is
everyone else in the seven Harry Potter books in 70
minutes.
Then there is the audience, young and old, heckling,
shouting comments and helping with a live Quidditch
match.
Four hours after the show, Trainor and Briton are still
laughing about the man who stood up to yell ''blasphemy''
when Trainor dared to suggest Harry was boring as a
character.
''We do like to encourage anarchy,'' Briton says, admitting
he thinks the show is best when it's falling apart.
''Yeah, the audience can steal the show,'' Trainor agrees.
The little boy in the 10th row who calls out ''He's behind
you'', when Harry is supposedly looking for the One whose
name shall not be mentioned, sends the audience and
both actors into gales of laughter for several minutes.
The show is supposed to be a parody, but it's very close to
English pantomime in the best sense.
There is a risk in a show like this. Fanatical fans can be
cruel about shows that take off their beloved fandom, but
Briton points out that it's not really about sending it up.
''The fans have been wonderful. They seem to be up for
it,'' he says.
Originally performed by its creators, Daniel Clarkson and
Jefferson Turner, as a five-minute sketch to summarise the
plot of the first five books as entertainment for fans
awaiting the release of the sixth book, it grew into a hit at
the Edinburgh Fringe and then became an award-winning
West End show. Trainor and Briton are the touring cast.
It condenses all seven books into 70 irreverent minutes.
It's an epic task, Trainor admits, and he thinks it succeeds
on different levels, enough for children and adults to enjoy
it in different ways.
Fifteen minutes before the start, Briton is in the audience,
talking to children, making them grin, while Trainor sits on
stage reading one of the books.
There's a slow start, a voiceover and a setup that seems to
take a while, before they get into the first book, but once
there, the show races through the books.
The props are intentionally minimal, Dobby the House Elf is
adorable and Briton is a goofy version of all the characters
he has to pull together.
You get to play Quidditch, with members of the audience
called on to be seekers, and children leap at the chance.
Somehow they manage to get their own version of Gloria
Gaynor's I will Survive in there and have it work.
Take the children. Enjoy it on their level. An audience of
adults would over-think the show.
''Wear costumes and bring wands,'' Trainor says.
He is a massive Harry Potter fan and grew up reading the
books.
''There's a dark element to the books, even though they
are for kids, that Rowling does really well,'' he says.
He has favourite characters, Luna Lovegood and Hagrid,
while Briton is fond of Remus Lupin (he's a huge fan of
David Thewlis, who played the character on screen) and
Ron Weasley.
''He's just like a typical English schoolboy, whose mother
knits him sweaters and his best mate happens to be like
Brad Pitt.'' Briton says.
They have both been touring the show in Asia. They were a
bit apprehensive about how it might be received. but all
was well.
''The fans are everywhere,'' Trainor says.
They are looking forward to New Zealand for the first time.
Trainor would have come already if his agent had got him
an audition as a hobbit.
''I really, really wanted to be a hobbit,'' he admits.
Deborah Morris was flown to Sydney by the show's
promoters.
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