SPONTANEOUS POTTER
The Glee Club, Cardiff Bay
Sun 7 July
After a three-year run with their improvised Sherlock Holmes jaunt, the Edinburgh-based Spontaneous Players traded 221B Baker Street for the Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry last year. Debuting their Harry Potter-themed show at The Fringe, it promptly sold out a 26-date run, and picked up the Scottish Comedy Award 2018 for Best Variety Show.
Based on a possible fan fiction title suggested by the audience on the night, their on-the-spot magical adventure quickly spirals out with plenty of cheeky character impressions, in-jokes, observations and occasional crudity, as the cast of four, accompanied by a musician, recount a previously untold tale.
The Players’ last trip to The Glee resulted in Harry Potter And The Curse Of The Multiplying Cheeseburgers. More confusing than a game of Quidditch and more alarming than any Daily Prophet headline, it deftly incorporated philosophers getting stoned, Draco on The Jeremy Kyle Show and Lucius Malfoy plotting in a Parisian McDonald’s.
Given the cast’s cavalier attitude, it’s predictably not endorsed by JK Rowling or in any way connected to the official Harry Potter franchise, yet the players’ love of the original source material is clear. A delight for any Potterhead; Muggles also welcome.
Tickets £10. Info: 0871 4720400 / www.glee.co.uk
words Dave Freak