I will start off by talking about what I have seen of the actual play which must be quite the feat judging by the script. Harry's actor looks somewhat like Harry and the same can be said about Scorpius. Not so for the rest. However, the most outrageous depiction is that of Hermione since the actress looks nothing like her and is also black when we all know that Hermione is a white person. I will leave it at that since further comment can only be made the day I actually see the play.
Story-wise, I would like to direct one to the very interesting two videos on what is wrong with the story and how to fix it by Austin McConnell.
Let's Fix Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
McConnell makes a very good case here about the flaws and what could have made the story better. I would agree with many of these points. McConnell is right in saying that there should have been more conflict and opportunity for the characters to grow. The story is heavily based on time travel and does not have the masterful storytelling and character development of the seven main books. In fact, time travel and the ensuing alternate timeline elements jarringly sets this book apart from what came before since those had never been a main feature of the saga, especially the latter which does not even fit in with what the story established before as how time travel works. What I understood of time travel in the Harry Potter universe is that nothing could change what had already taken place and it is a closed loop so that there is no space for alternate timelines or parallel universes. On top of this, a Time-Turner just so happened to be made that enabled one to travel years into the past with a limitation of five-minutes in any particular instance, and conveniently yet a second Time-Turner without this limitation appears as a deus ex machina nearing the climax of the story. This makes the very premise of the story somewhat shaky. One could say that this relatively mediocre story may be partly due to the limitations of a play, and this is not meant to be on par with the seven main books. However, as McConnell points out, they do seem to have intended it to be the eighth book, crazily enough, since it is stated on the back cover itself: "The eighth story. Nineteen years later." Once one dismisses this and considers it a sort of side-story, as well as overlooking that rather questionable employment of time travel and alternate timelines, one can pass off it off as an enjoyable read; much like how one would regard Back to Before in the Animorphs series, though its alternate timeline elements are not in conflict with the laws of its universe.
On the positive side, I enjoyed the artistic unity in the story, when everything fell into place such as the clever utilization of Lily's blanket at the end; though again, it is nothing like the intricate webs of complexity in the previous books. The villain, while very intriguing as the progeny of the Dark Lord, is not strong simply because, as McConnell points out, does not have her own ambition and seems more like a stronger and more interesting version of Peter Pettigrew, with the sole objective of resurrecting Voldemort. She is merely a tool to relive the threat of an old villain rather than a villain in her own right. Although there is space for her to be developed more in terms of her insecurities, back story and her direction upon defeat, especially since she's quite young, the story only presents her as a single-faceted, rigid villain. Delphi does however seem to possess Voldemort's powers of wit and persuasion since she manipulates others, charms Albus and goes about her business undetected for what she really is. Another aspect of the story that is not quite believable is the smooth execution of the last plan to stop Delphi. It is curious that it did not occur at least to Hermione that Delphi might be watching when they sneaked into the church and if the church is the best vantage point, Delphi might be hiding there herself. Delphi does see Harry quickly enough and comes to him after he goes out as Voldemort to lure her in.
While the alternate timelines are incongruous with the Harry Potter universe and they downplay the suspense by lessening the stakes and the severity of the consequences of actions taken by characters (they simply go back in time to fix mistakes so there is no finality in loss and tragedy), it does have the redeeming feature of transporting us to the events of the past and bringing about invaluable encounters with poignant characters such as Snape, even if it is simply a parallel universe. The timeline where we meet Snape however is less believable given that the characters are surprisingly collected about the sudden appearance of a different Scorpius from another timeline possessing a Time-Turner that can go back years into the past, and being offered a chance to save Harry and bring down Voldemort's regime. It would also have been more effective if the focus of resurrection was a stronger character than Cedric which would make it more important as well was making it more intriguing a prospect for the reader.
When directing one's attention to the Golden Trio, McConnell is right in saying that the story has not done them justice. The only positive aspects in this regard would be Hermione being the Minister for Magic which suits her perfectly and Harry being his kind and noble self. However, the depiction of Harry is far from adequate given that although he is meant to be the protagonist ("Harry Potter and the Cursed Child") as in the previous books, we hardly see him working his awesomeness. He is now the head Auror, which is the best of the best, and yet we do not see any sleuthing or impressive fighting or any of his expertise as a great wizard. In fact, he is easily disarmed in the final showdown with Delphi, when she is a young witch in her twenties though supposedly very powerful. Not only that, but Delphi has to be outnumbered six to one in order to bring her down which is quite disappointing. Clues come to Harry in dreams rather than him actively finding anything. As for Hermione, she gives out a feminist message now that she is the Minister for Magic and has thereby dissipated from our minds any remaining doubts of her being Harry's sidekick. However, at the end of the book, it is far from feminist to see that females are forgotten in the family trees, since quite a few appear with one name or simply as "unknown", while male names are properly listed and their surnames passed down the generations. Last but not least, Ron is nothing like himself and is used as comic relief. He runs a joke shop and cracks lame jokes when that is Fred and George's domain, not his (George is not featured at all and to this day, I think Fred should also have been there with him which would make a better story). Ron should be in the Ministry, maybe in his father's old position, and be a useful part of the team like he used to be. Ron and Hermione have no chemistry together and would have been better off as best friends forever, since the trio have always been like siblings. To make matters somewhat disturbing, there is a scene in which Albus passes off as Ron and talks of babies and kisses his aunt Hermione. Ron with his carefree manner would, in my imagination, be into casual dating and have no interest in kids. Hermione with her ambition, social standing and strong sense of doing good (recall her S.P.E.W) would be more likely to adopt an unfortunate child, such as one orphaned from the turmoil of the past, as a single parent. McConnell, in his video, speaks of adding in a secret affair between Harry and Hermione to generate sensation and conflict, which is one idea of his version of the story that many find disagreeable. Harry and Hermione behaving in such a way would be very much out of character, since not only have they always regarded each other as siblings, but both have high principles of morality.
Scorpius is also a character done well. He is different from his dad, Draco, and the uncertainty that he is the son of Voldemort has set the stage for challenges and his growth as he deals with those challenges. He is a geek and a loner, and has much in common with Albus so that they become the best of friends. He is also very likable. As with other instances in the play however, the dialogue and interactions between Scorpius and Albus is not natural on occasion and as McConnell points out, is overdone while bonds and characterizations of some other characters such as Rose are either cliche or highly inadequate. Scorpius and Albus would weirdly state the nature of their relationship (E.g. "you are my best friend") rather than leaving it for the audience to conclude and have open displays of affection for each other as if they are small children. The rather unconvincing and irrelevant appearance of Bane and his statement to Harry about a "dark cloud" is enough to make Harry boss around McGonagall and try to keep Albus away from Scorpius, which is supposed to be the conflict between the two boys. The writers can really use some subtlety and symbolism that are in the previous books and take a leaf out of Naruto's book where Naruto and Sasuke's bromance is a complex concoction of rivalry, machismo, envy, teamwork, fighting, and has little to no uncharacteristic declarations and shows of affection. In fact, Harry and Ron have never acted this way and their bond is also marked with rivalry, falling-outs, jealousies, and so on.
Another glaring plot-hole or two are presented by the existence of the Time-Turners, which begs the question who has made them, and why they cannot be made again even if the two in the story are destroyed. A Time-Turner could have been used to save James and Lily way back in the seven-book saga but the reason that wasn't done is because previously it was implied that one cannot change events that have occurred already (no space for alternate timelines), and also, the old Time-Turners could only go back a few hours in time. But now, ready and available is the more advanced Time-Turner that can go years into the past, but no one thinks of stopping Voldemort back in the past and thereby preventing many tragedies that occurred afterward. Yes, it would be altering history, but in this story, it is possible and Voldemort out of the picture can only mean a better world with many people whose lives were cut short, actually living. Harry would have his parents and he would have a normal childhood. Yet, the utter absurdity of it is that everyone unanimously allows Voldemort to kill Lily and James, and actually watches it happen too.
Yet another plot-hole is that Albus, Scorpius and Delphi use the age-old trick of using Polyjuice Potion to disguise themselves and enter the Ministry of Magic. One would think that surely the Ministry would have defenses against this since anyone, including kids can pull off this simple trick (all you need is someone's fallen hair to transform into them after all). Yet, it is supposed to be believable. Furthermore, they solve the riddle at Hermione's office fairly quickly. One would think that given the disastrous power of a Time-Turner, Hermione would have exerted more effort to hide it (McGonagall chastising her for irresponsibility later still would not make it any less strange; especially since this is Hermione we are talking about, not Ron or Harry).
