Dallas Theater Review: ‘POTTED POTTER – The Unauthorized Harry Experience’

Review by Lauryn Angel

LeakyCon wasn’t the only place to spot Harry Potter fans over the past weekend. Actors Joseph Maudsley and James Percy brought Potted Potter – a parody that promises all seven books in 70 minutes – to Dallas’s Wyly Theater.

James, a self-professed Potter expert, portrays Harry Potter in the re-enactment of the books. Joe, who knows a bit about Harry Potter, plays, well, everyone else. With bare bones costumes (literally jeans and t-shirts labelled “Potter 1” and “Potter 2”), minimal set design, and few props (mostly hats to help differentiate between characters) the show doesn’t seem like much. The genius of the show is really in the actors’ performances. While some of the show is scripted, there’s a lot of material that is ad-libbed. When a joke didn’t land, there were comments such as, “Right. Should’ve done more research. That doesn’t play well in America.”

The show also included interactive elements, such as a game of Quidditch that brought two members of the audience on stage as seekers, but involved the rest of the audience as either the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams or as spectator to the match. As the actors observed (“ooh, the dads are suddenly awake!”) everyone in the theater was excited and some even jumped out of their seats to get a chance to play.

My friend and I laughed almost non-stop from beginning to end of Potted Potter, and laughed even more on the drive back to Frisco. Hopefully the show will swing back through Dallas again, as it certainly begs for multiple viewings.