Potted Potter

You may well be asking, as a theatre-goer, what is Potted Potter? Well, it’s a load of corny old gags, slapstick comedy, audience participation, pantomime, schoolboy Fringe humour and Tommy Cooper’s wig changing shtick melded together loosely (very) with a send up of all JK Rowling’s seven Harry Potter books…nothing we haven’t seen before. Why then, you might ask, is it bringing down the house…or at least the Playhouse, in our esteemed Arts Centre? And the answer would be …because it’s gobsmackingly, side-splittingly, jaw-achingly, hysterically funny.

Potted Potter relies on the show NOT looking professional or rehearsed. If it were slick and without spontaneity it’s doubtful that it would work, but the bumbling mistakes and the “lack of HP knowledge” of Ben Stratton, against James Percy’s HP expertise is reminiscent of Abbott and Costello in their heyday (I now can hear every reader under 40 saying “Who’s Abbott and Costello?” Well it’s NOT the PM and a former Treasurer).

Ben and James are both trained actors and stand-up comics, so they have a great ability to ad-lib with the audience and shift focus if some business isn’t working, all the while looking like this is coming off the top of their heads. It’s both casual and masterful, and both have pleasant personalities which are non threatening to the kids.

There’s plenty for the Muggle parents too – enough innuendo and campery to keep the laughter simmering without offending the youngsters. Since Ben has no idea of the Harry Potter Books, he mixes Hogwarts with Warthogs in a groanworthy gag, buys a wardrobe so they can get to Narnia, and blows the budget on a firebreathing dragon from book 4 which turns out to be a glove puppet. It’s wonderfully silly nonsense and any illusions you might have of yourself as a sophisticated audience member are soon dispelled.

With James playing Harry, and Ben every other character, there are some hysterical cross-overs. Ben – as a rapping Ron Weasley – wears a curly red clown’s wig, and when he introduces his little sister Annie he drops to his knees, still in the red wig, and sings “The Sun’ll Come Out Tomorrow”. Wonderfully simple comedy that makes everyone happy. Along the way they send up Twilight, The Hobbit, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings…all good clean fun. There are some clever lines too…. ”Dumbledore is the greatest wizard who ever lived….and yet he chose to go into teaching!?” And “War Horse has got nothing on this,” upon the arrival of the glove puppet. There are even a few swipes at Australia; the theme song from Neighbours, and the warning “That’s what you get for telling us Vegemite is as good as Marmite.” There’s an audience participation game of Quidditch with James as the Golden Snitch…dressed up like “Bob The Builder on a night out”. An elderly gentleman grabbed the quaffle and almost scored in a drop kick that wouldn’t have been out of place in an AFL grand final.

But the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort…in a rousing singoff of “I Will Survive” – complete with disco ball and John Travolta moves – is just the icing on a deliciously baked cake. This is the perfect recipe for family entertainment.

Coral Drouyn