I know that I am not alone in thinking that this was one of the most exciting pieces of work on the Fringe. The premise of an intervention held by the three Harry Potter actors, Rupert Grinch, Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe, on J K Rowling promised an opportunity to at least get some of this vile rubbish out of the laundry basket and air it in a public forum.
Given that it would be performed in the very city that is credited with giving birth to the Potter books and phenomenon, it was equally resonant and likely to add some layer of meaning to the whole affair. I wanted to hear the unpalatable challenged by the unthinkable—from both and either side. As I sat in amongst the twenty or so fellow hopefuls in the audience within a large space at The Assembly Rooms, I began to worry. This was not what I expected. I thought there would be protestors come to argue that it should not be seen because it portrayed their side wrongly or that it was overly robust or something.
Perhaps they have been in to see it.
The performance starts with the actors playing the other actors Grinch and Radcliffe in what is apparently a part of the back of a restaurant where they are going to confront Rowling. Between them, they are discussing how that may go when the only real big decision they seem to make is to take down the Happy Intervention banner which might give their game away.
Emma Watson is not going to be there but join from Los Angeles on Zoom, but is actually next door in a theatrical piece of trickery that appears to do no more than set up the realisation that she was not in Los Angeles later. Rowling appears, and the discussions begin interspersed with flashbacks to the times when Rowling was trying to sell her books, the compromises she was forced to make, the misogyny she encountered, the abuse she suffered from her Portuguese first husband and now the abuse she endures. There is also a mysterious figure of an angel that I am guessing is a trans person that appears with tape across their mouth until they describe an attack they physically suffer in spotlit moments.
I felt a great deal of sympathy for the actors who appear to have lost faith in this as an exercise. Despite trying to breathe life into it, at various times you can see the overbearing fatigue of each trying to find some way of raising it beyond what it seems to have become. But this is a professional production which should be exploring ways to improve and resolve the obvious gaps and issues.
There are also directorial decisions which seem odd, like the way that this angel character flits in and out of scenes. There is also a meal which seems to have been begun then is just abandoned. Their meeting in a restaurant seems a very odd choice. These are four of the most famous people on the planet at one point who together would raise a crowd instantly by the end of the piece happens, but surely this type of engagement would be something which could be held in a more private place. Oh, and why does Grinch pick up dog shit with his hand?
As I left, I heard a very earnest man of a similar age to myself describing how groundbreaking the whole thing was, and yes, I did revisit my views. I did ponder if I was being far too harsh in my assessment. I have always had sympathy for Rowling as the abuse she has received is appalling. I am also appalled at the abuse trans people get and how that affects them daily. Was I expecting something that went beyond the totality of an opinion and gave us a worthy vehicle to have a variety of unpalatable opinions examined?
Perhaps I was expecting too much, but then I see so much on this topic which does not seek to use a term for its title to gather people to buy their tickets and has a far better grasp on how to handle the topic than this. And on their behalf, I stuck firmly to my very considered opinion.