When Harry Potter and The Cursed Child made it to stage

When everyone thought that JK Rowling’s best selling Harry Potter series will end with its seventh installment – Dealthly Hallows, after experiencing the biggest success with more than 450 million copies sold worldwide and becoming the second highest grosser film series collecting $7.7 billion, the author sprang a surprise June.

She announced the eighth one in the series - Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, however in its theatrical version – for the first time a 2-part play was going to be staged at London.

The official opening is on July 10 at the Hogwartsian Palace Theatre, a magnificent gothic style building that goes back to 1891 in the heart of the West End. There was also a preview performance of Part 1 on June 7 and Part 2 on June 9.

In a video released by the production, director John Tiffany explained that "the good while" between the preview performances and the main opening was to have an audience to help the show become a work-in progress. "Each separate preview will be unique, and the audience will be seeing that version where we are in the process.

The fans who managed to watch the preview performance wouldn’t have to wait till July to find out what happened, and they have been appealed by Rowling not to reveal the spoilers, so the rest have to wait.

Meanwhile something interesting occurred during the preview shows. The first staging of the play used live white owls that have been often referred to in the novels.

This was done under the supervision of a team of certified trainers and an on-site specialist veterinary surgeon (Steve Smith, MRCVS) who ensured the owls' welfare and enrichment needs were safeguarded at all times.

However, an owl escaped into the auditorium, and had failed to return to its handler after making a brief flight during a scene. It was then decided that hence forth live owls will not be used for the plays.