The new Harry Potter stage show has enchanted critics as new production pictures reveal scenes from the magical spectacle.

Eastern Daily Press: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre in London. Photo: Manuel Harlan.The cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre in London. Photo: Manuel Harlan.The cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. (Image: Manuel Harlan)

Harry Potter And The Cursed Child opens officially at the Palace Theatre in London's West End on Saturday and stars two Norfolk actors in lead roles. The show received glowing reviews from many critics following press day on Monday.

The play - which is split into two performances - picks up the Harry Potter story 19 years after JK Rowling's last novel about the wizarding world finished and sees actor Jamie Parker take on the role of the grown-up Harry Potter.

His fellow cast members include former Hewett School pupil and Maddermarket Theatre actress Poppy Miller, who plays Harry's wife Ginny, and former Thorpe St Andrew School pupil and Norwich Theatre Royal Arts Course alumna Sam Clemmett, who plays Harry and Ginny's son Albus Severus.

The Daily Telegraph gave the show five stars, calling it 'a triumph' and saying that 'it grips, it stirs, it delights'.

Eastern Daily Press: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre in London. Photo: Manuel Harlan.L-R Poppy Miller (Ginny Potter) and Jamie Parker (Harry Potter).Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre in London. Photo: Manuel Harlan.L-R Poppy Miller (Ginny Potter) and Jamie Parker (Harry Potter). (Image: Manuel Harlan)

Theatre critic Dominic Cavendish praised the 'thrill-a-minute nature of the stage-craft'.

'The big news is that this is just what was needed, will raise the benchmark for family entertainment for years to come and may even usher in a whole cycle of Potter-world stories,' he wrote.

Ann Treneman wrote in The Times that the show was 'Dickens, with magic' and 'a raunchless Game Of Thrones with heart'.

'Crucially, it's authentic Potter but, most importantly, it's new. It's not the movie of the book. It's the real deal, live in front of you, so much better than any film could be.'

Eastern Daily Press: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre in London. Photo: Manuel Harlan.The cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre in London. Photo: Manuel Harlan.The cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. (Image: Manuel Harlan)

The Guardian's Michael Billington said that director John Tiffany 'has masterminded a thrilling spectacle' and that together with his designer, Christine Jones, 'created magic out of the simplest ingredients'.

The show, which has been in previews since June 7, is based on an original new story by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, and is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series. For more details, visit www.harrypottertheplay.com