Final curtain falls on Mayfield’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child production

May 8, 2025 · 0 Comments

By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Mayfield Secondary School just wrapped their production of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: High School Edition.

The production ran from April 30 to May 3.

With approximately 120 students involved and multiple Mayfield staff, the production was truly all hands on deck to create the spellbinding show.

Jason King, co-director of the show and drama teacher at Mayfield, said that the process started last year, with things falling into place just a week before showtime.

King co-directed alongside Brenda Jones, Melina Pereira as choreographer, Tracey Freitas as production manager, with Mike Moon and Sophia Victoria as Technical Directors.

King has been at Mayfield for five years and said he feels fortunate to be a part of this school and its productions, as the students actively want to be there and bring a high level of engagement.

“I’m very, very, very proud of the work that they do,” said King. “It’s a lot of work and it’s a lot of time, and the students here, they’re willing to do it, they want to do it, they enjoy doing it.”

Morgan Scholz, a Grade 11 student, was assistant stage manager for the production and talked about her experience of taking on a leadership role for the show and seeing the level of engagement for herself.

“I got to see the wide expanse of how the production kind of takes over the school but in a good way,” said Scholz. “You have the woodshop classes working together to make the sets, and you have the sound and lighting class, which is run by music teachers who are working to make the sound work, and then you have a bunch of people who are so willing to work together. Just seeing it all come together, it was really interesting and I felt like I learned a lot.”

King described how collaborative the school is and all the departments that come together to make the production work.

“This was one of the most collaborative ones for me working on in terms of getting the art department involved, the music department involved, the construction department involved, the dance department involved, just everyone. I just think it’s great that all the arts are willing to work together and bring it together to put these sorts of productions on,” said King.

The pair also discussed what went on behind the scenes, even behind the set.

“There was one scene that we had, it was like a church scene, and we had four moving walls and three doors,” reflected Scholz. “All the set crew, the props crew and the costume crew were kind of hiding behind the walls, and they were so excited to hear what was going on. It was really funny to see how everyone had really brought the show to heart and how everyone was so excited to see their peers on stage or backstage doing things.

“Everyone just kind of understood what was needed for the show and there was just a big sense of community. We’re all working towards creating this big piece of art and everyone was just there for it, people really enjoyed the process, and it kind of created a little family.”

King spoke about what it was like to see the production come to life on the stage.

“I really enjoyed the set movement. I think the kids, by the end, the students and the crews, it did look kind of like poetry, emotionally,” said King.

With the show reaching its final curtain call, the two shared what it was like at the last show.

“We have a lot of seniors in the show, so it was kind of sad because it was everyone’s last big performance before graduation. But, there was a lot of happy energy, and people were really happy how it ended. It turned out to be a great show, and there were a lot of people who really enjoyed it,” said Scholz. “There were a lot of community members who came up afterwards and were like, this is one of the best things I’ve ever seen.”

“On the last night, we had everyone up on stage, all the backstage [crew], all the cast, everyone up there,” said King. “It’s busy throughout the entire week, but when you see that at the end, it’s rewarding to see.”

As the school year comes to an end, Scholz reflected on what it’s like to be a part of Mayfield.

“Mayfield is a really great school for people who are looking to explore themselves but also the arts community,” said Scholz. “There are so many great opportunities that are available at Mayfield. It’s a really great place where you’re able to meet people that you wouldn’t have regularly met, maybe long-term friends that you are going to have for the rest of your life or teachers who are always going to impact how you kind of move through life in a positive way.

“There’s so much at Mayfield that people can really enjoy, even coming to watch a show may put a smile on your face or you’ll remember something, a line from the show that really just creates a lesson in life that you want to bring with you.”