Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: 5 Other Franchises We’d Love to See on Stage

If early reviews are anything to go by, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a resoundingly successful transition from page to stage. The new script, set 19 years after the final book in the original Harry Potter saga, brings back the magic of the series like never before.

Indeed, short of taking the excellent Harry Potter Tour (which actually lets you walk around inside the world of Pottermania), The Cursed Child is perhaps the most immersive Potter experience possible. Given the enormous success of the franchise prior to its release, it’s no surprise, then, that the play is enjoying such positive reviews early on.

Why can’t the same treatment be given to other favourites of fiction? Whether they be novels, movies or TV series, there are a whole host of other franchises which would flourish on the stage – here are five suggestions for any budding playwrights out there.

Avengers

It seems the whole world has gone comic book (ahem, I mean graphic novel) daft right now, with major film studios churning out one superhero flick after another. Surely, then, the fireworks could fly equally as well on stage. What’s more, a live audience would give the cast a chance to flex more of their acting muscles as well as their biceps, which could only add depth and nuance to an already highly-acclaimed franchise.

Game of Thrones

Long before HBO snapped up George R. R. Martin’s imaginative series, A Song of Ice and Fire already boasted a dedicated and diehard following. Now that the show itself is the most popular TV programme of all time, it would seem the time is ripe for a stage adaptation. Of course, transposing dragons and White Walkers onto the hallowed wooden boards might present a few logistical problems, but a live retelling of this wildly successful saga would be priceless.

Back to the Future

Who wouldn’t kill to see a hoverboard in the flesh? With Back to the Future: Part II imagining what life would be like in 2015, the opportunities for comparison and commentary are endless. Since fashion works in cycles and the 80s has become hip again (just look at the popularity of Stranger Things on Netflix), it’s surely time Marty and Doc were given a refurb.

Star Wars

It’s pretty incredible that this most popular of franchises has still never been translated into a theatrical medium. While there will be those who claim it’s too big and too sprawling to be feasible on stage, there are others who are confident it can be done. As with some of the other suggestions on the list, the logistics of such an undertaking could be difficult – but the payoff of seeing Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker duel sabres under the limelight would be incredible.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games seems like a perfect fit for the theatre. Not only is there a ready-made audience waiting to gobble up the words of Caesar Flickerman, but the action scenes often take a backseat to the emotional drama unfolding through the novels and the films. Therefore, Katniss and Peeta’s plight could be all the more powerful in a live setting.