A producer of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child has revealed that the rising cost of living made it "literally impossible" to keep the play in its original two-part format. The production has been restructured into a single three-hour show and is set to reopen in London’s West End next month. Sonia Friedman, the play’s producer, explained during a recent event that costs have increased by 30-40% since the start of the pandemic, affecting everything from staging to staffing. She said that keeping the original two-part structure would require ticket prices so high they would be unaffordable and exclude many potential audiences. The original Harry Potter and The Cursed Child was a two-part play that premiered in the West End in 2016 and closed in September 2021. The decision to change it to a single show in London follows a similar move in 2021, when the play was relaunched as a one-part version on Broadway in New York City. Friedman noted that factors like the pandemic, the global cost-of-living crisis, and ongoing wars around the world accelerated the decision in New York—and now London is following suit. While the team expressed sadness over the change, Friedman emphasized that it was the correct choice, and they are proud of the new version. Director John Tiffany shared that he and writer Jack Thorne were reluctant to change the original two-part format, as they were proud of their work, according to The Times. However, Tiffany also noted that the new single-show version allows more people to see the play without having to pay exorbitant prices, as reported by The Stage. The play is set 19 years after the events of the final Harry Potter book and follows Harry’s son, Albus Severus, as he begins his journey at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Since its debut, the play has been seen by over 14 million people globally, with more than 2.5 million in London alone. The new version will retain some of the original cast, including David Ricardo-Pearce as Harry Potter, Thomas Aldridge as Ron Weasley, and Naana Agyei Ampadu as Hermione Granger. However, new actors have been cast in key roles such as Albus Potter, Ginny Potter, Rose Granger-Weasley, Draco Malfoy, and Scorpius Malfoy.