Potted Potter is a re-telling of all seven Harry Potter books in only 70 minutes. The two actors, Dan and Jeff, quickly perform each book, summarizing the major points of each novel, getting sillier as they go along. They used awful wigs, “cheap” set pieces, and make-shift props all because Jeff apparently spent the budget, which was supposed to go to getting 20 actors, on an amazing fire-breathing dragon for the fourth novel. Of course, that turns out to be a tiny dragon puppet, infuriating Dan. The telling of the first 3 books was a bit slow, but still quite amusing.
The performance picked up when a game of Quidditch was started with the audience. The game helped get the audience into the silly spirit of the show. The audience was split in to two sides: Slytherin and Gryffindor. One kid from each side was picked to the Seeker and would have to catch the “Golden Snitch”, who turned out to be Dan, one of the performers dressed in a ridiculous golden outfit. The little girl from Slytherin really got into her role and grabbed Dan by his costume, refusing to let go, somehow spinning him around, and eventually tackling him to the ground! It was by the far the best moment of the whole show. It certainly caught the performers off guard and they lost it. The rest of the show flew by with some really funny moments.
After they finally make it through five books they realize they only have about ten minutes left to tell the audience about the last two books of the series. So the two of them break out into the song "I Will Survive", quickly spiting out the important battles explains who dies and who survives in the end out the series, quite hilarious.
Potted Potter was charming and fun: a must see for anyone with children or anyone who is a fan of the books. Don’t expect anything serious; it is light-hearted and relatively informal, a very silly but amusing performance. Potted Potter is playing at the Little Shubert Theater through the summer until September 1, 2013.
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