Reading it in its newly released book form will be the closest most Harry Potter fans will get to experiencing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
But you don’t have to be most Harry Potter fans. The acclaimed London stage play will be releasing 250,000 tickets on Thursday, Aug. 4. The last two rounds of Cursed Child ticket releases in 2015 sold out within minutes. The upcoming ticket release comes only days after the script hit bookstores and the play’s official opening weekend at the Palace Theatre in London. Translation? Cursed Child hype will be greater than ever and nabbing tickets will be as tricky as a capturing a Golden Snitch.
We’ve answered all your questions about how to get Cursed Child tickets on Thursday, as well as a rundown of other ticket sale opportunities that exist.
How do I buy Cursed Child tickets?
Tickets will go on sale on Aug. 4 at 6am ET (or 11 am London time) at Cursed Child’s two ticketing partners: Nimax Theatres and ATG Tickets. Alternatively, you can call 0330-333-4813. If you do buy tickets online, it probably won’t hurt to go ahead and register for a free account with your chosen vendor to speed things up on Aug. 4.
The tickets on sale Thursday will be for performance dates from next summer through Dec. 10, 2017. So yes, you will have to wait a while. Unlike the last time Cursed Child tickets went on sale, you don’t have to register in advance to get on a “priority subscriber list,” which should make things easier.
Cursed Child is a play in two parts, designed to be seen over the course of two consecutive evenings or a matinee and evening performance on a single day. Part One is two hours and 40 minutes long, and Part Two is two hours and 35 minutes long. According to the Cursed Child website, if you buy tickets to Part One, you will be automatically booked for the same seat in the subsequent Part Two.
Here’s a sample performance schedule below:
How much are tickets?
Tickets for each part are between £15 and £70, or $19-$92 U.S.
Are there any other chances to buy tickets?
Yes. Every Friday at 8am ET (or 1 pm BST), 40 tickets will be released in something known as “The Friday Forty.” The bad news is that you’ll have to buy your plane tickets to London with very little notice; the performances are all for the following week.
Got tickets for @HPPlayLDN with #fridayforty for next Saturday! Near enough the best seats in the house! Buzzing! 🐝🐝🐝🐝
— Elle (@elle88xx) July 15, 2016
If picked, you’ll be able to purchase a maximum of two tickets.
You can also check out ticket resale websites like StubHub and Viagogo, but proceed with caution. Not only will there likely be a pretty huge upcharge (tickets on Viagogo run upwards of $500), but Cursed Child forbids the resale of tickets and can refuse you admission.
If you’re not picky about date or even going alone, you can also browse the London Craigslist for more modest prices. A single ticket to a Wednesday showing of both parts is being sold for £90.