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xoruffitup · 8 years

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Harry Potter & the Cursed Child Show Report 18/1/17

I haven’t formally done one of these before, but today was my last time seeing the show before I move from London and I don’t want to lose the details so HERE WE GO! :D WIZZO!

Highlights - For the tl;dr people 2 Points! (It’s always 2 points with her, isn’t it?) First point: The big goof of the night happened when Harry transfigures into Voldemort... Harry sinks down into a trap door or something under the stage and when Voldemort’s supposed to rise up through Harry’s robes, his shoulder got caught on the robes and he FELL OVER and all the cast on stage immediately scrambled to help him up! And after Ron exclaims “Bloody hell,” Harry/Voldemort is supposed to say “It worked then?” but instead tonight he said “IT NEARLY WORKED” and omg it was literally the equivalent of the awkward Draco hug scene in DH2 when you can no longer take Voldemort seriously at all. Second point, more significant POINT: Bscly, Scorbus are in love and this entire cast are legendary talents. More detail to follow but just gotta put all the analysis and recap that follows under that general umbrella!

Also, my unexpected personal highlight: ANDY HURLEY FROM FALL OUT BOY WAS THERE TODAY I SAW HIM TWICE BUT DIDN’T WANT TO BOTHER HIM BUT AAAH ANDY

Okay so let’s get into the scene-by-scene deets! (And I’ll put it out there right now that my heart unabashedly belongs to Scorpius Malfoy, so many things that stick with me are Scorpius-centric.)

(All original cast were on, except Annabel Baldwin played Delphi)

Act 1, Scene 5 (Ministry of Magic, Harry’s Office) Harry was more whimsical and relaxed in this scene than I’ve ever seen him. He actually had his feet up on the desk and was leaning back completely relaxed in his chair when first talking with Hermione! When I watch Jamie, his defining trait usually seems to be the helpless anger constantly bubbling under his exterior, waiting to burst forth when he’s unduly provoked or feels particularly helpless. But today he was genuinely laughing and joking with Hermione about not being on top of his paperwork and “no longer chaotic!” Then, he switched incredibly quickly to frustration with “It was me who heard the remours about the Time-Turner and me who acted upon it. You really don’t need to tell me off.” Here was the first little step down Harry’s looong, oh-so-difficult emotional hurdles during the play, but it was nice really seeing him start from a place where he did actually seem comfortable and at-ease - even if for a few brief moments.

Act 1, Scene 7 (The Potters’ House) Today had some of the most intense Albus/Harry argument scenes I’ve ever seen. Even when we saw Sam going into the theater beforehand, we thought he looked particularly prickly angry and boyyy did Albus channel that today. I think today was the BEST performance I’ve ever seen from Sam. In this scene, the way he egged on, antagonized, and provoked Harry was truly painful to watch. He wasn’t overtly yelling, just mocking in a tone that really conveyed so much frustration and resentment. When the inevitable, painful retaliation came with Harry saying that terrible line, Albus didn’t look immediately crushed like he normally does, instead it looked like he swallowed it, like a hard, painful stone that landed heavy and sour within him. It would only grow much uglier as the play went on. I’ll talk more about this, but seriously, Sam was so, so great today.

Act 1, Scene 10 (The Hogwarts Express) Truly, the things Anthony can do with his voice are incredible. In a previous show report @ohscorbus described the noises he makes after the “I mean nice bread, good bread!!” line as ‘excitable noises in a French accent’ and this is literally so accurate! Today it was like ‘om nom nom’ sounds of eating something really delicious but with this hilarious French accent and I cannot even with this boy.

Act 1, Scene 14 (St. Oswald’s Home For Old Witches And Wizards) So I had a restricted view seat at the end of the fourth row in the stalls, and I actually couldn’t see Amos, Delphi, or Albus at all in this scene... so instead I spent it enjoying a very close-up view of Anthony. :’) (Big hardship, right?) Scorpius remains silent for most of the exchange while Albus tries to convince Amos to let them help him, but he’s incredibly expressive as he just watches Albus speaking. Once Albus launches into “I know what it is to be the spare...” you see so much change in Scorpius’s face, as it sets in on him how important this is to Albus. Before, Scorpius’s face radiates skepticism, like he’s just there going along with and humoring Albus’s crazy whim for the time being. But as he watches Albus speaking here, he realizes his best friend has some truly deep emotions and determination bound up in this, and that’s what finally draws Scorpius in to this mission as well. Despite his always-hilarious “Do we?!” and “Are we?!” you can tell by the changing way he watches Albus in this scene, and of course the way he immediately throws himself between Albus and Amos when Amos draws his wand - that this boy would do anything to protect and help his best friend when it comes to the things that really matter to him.

Act 1, Scene 16 (Whitehall) Scorpius’s lines about the potion tasting like fish were just HYSTERICAL today. He interrupted the “Fish doesn’t agree with me” line with these hilarious grossed-out, tongue-sticking-out noises, shaking his head around madly like the prospect of drinking a potion that tastes of fish is really just the most terrible thing he could possibly imagine. When he puts Harry’s glasses on, his “We’re doing this...~togethahh~!” line is truly the cutest and most hilarious thing, when he gets this guileless grin and gestures in a roundabout way to his own face like “Look! We’re having an adventure and I get to be Harry Potter haha neat!! Wizzo!!” The Polyjuice transformation scene is really just amazingly out of control. Scorpius makes literal seal noises and Albus twitches and yells so much his face turns bright cherry red. Once they’ve transformed, Jamie’s delivery of the “Go to your room. You’ve been an incredibly awful and bad son” line with his accompanying dramatic robe flip is, I dare say, even better and more Scorpius than even Anthony could do. The way Jamie nails Scorpius’s mannerisms and twitchy energy is literally 100% PERFECT - the man’s a legend, truly. He embodies Anthony’s Scorpius to a perfect T. Oh, and the last 2 times I’ve seen the show, Albus/Ron has accompanied the “Uncle Ron’s got a bit of a gut growing” line with belly-bumping Scorpius/Harry and it’s GOLDEN.

Act 1, Scene 19 (Ministry of Magic, Hermione’s Office) Continuing the Jamie’s-a-legend track, he let out this incredibly hilarious high-pitched scream at one point when one of the books grabbed him. And he got adorabley bouncey excited at one of the forbidden book titles he found on the shelf - Jumping up and down a little bit and flapping his hands with “That’s not even allowed at Hogwarts!” I also always love when Scorpius turns back into himself and solves the last riddle, and delivers the gleefully-geeky “We beat the library!!!” line sprawled over the top of the bookcase and grinning, brandishing the final book over his head like it’s the best trophy ever.

Act 2, Scene 7 (Triwizard Tournamend, Edge of the Forbidden Forest) As always, the boys’ GO GO CRAZY KRUM dance was hilarious and over-the-top and thoroughly enjoyable. And following Albus’s line to Hermione “He’s got you mixed up with someone else,” Scorpius’s “YeeEEssSSSS!” in a cray Russian-type accent while holding his hands up like he’s delivering the weirdest Shakespeare line ever, was equally enjoyable, plus hilariously weird moments like these are where I can’t even’t believe Scorpius exists and what did we do to deserve this level of unbelievableamazingawkwardlovable Malfoy :’’) But mvp best-moment award in this scene went to Tom Mackley - While messing around in the crowd, at one point he started horse playing with the student next to him and pretended to try pushing the other kid into the arena where the dragons were. He mimed grabbing the kid and throwing him in until a Professor gave him a thoroughly disapproving look, and he stepped back looking appropriately chided and disappointed (but still adorable and fluffy, as always :3)

Act 2, Scene 11 (Hogwarts, Defence Against the Dark Arts Class) This is probably the best scene to talk generally about Noma’s performance. Today was the most raw and visibly emotional I’ve ever seen Hermione. I’ll give more specific examples in later scenes, but even while she remained as fierce and stoic as Hermione usually is, it was accompanied by the most overt moments of pain, vulnerability, and sensitivity that I’ve ever seen from her. Today, it really seemed as if teaching this class was a truly arduous, incredibly difficult thing for her. It took a long time for her to get out the lines “It is a gift of light ... You can protect yourself against the world. Which, in some of our cases, seems like a necessity sooner rather than later.” There was more desperation and longing in these words than I’ve ever heard.

Act 2, Scene 12 (Hogwarts, Staircases) Aaah, the staircase ballet scene. Always a favorite, and always shreds my heart into little pieces every time :’’) It still strikes me how beautifully the scene is composed - between the music and the choreography of both the moving staircases and the boys traveling up and down the staircases, together then parting from each other. The moment when the staircases glide together and Albus and Scorpius meet at the top is still painful to watch. Scorpius thinks, tries desperately to say something friendly, something to break the ice and close the chasm of distance that’s opened between them. Albus looks deeply frustrated and so, so lost. He looks angry at the situation, not knowing what he can do to get back to Scorpius, and that bubble of anger around him leaves him insusceptible to Scorpius’s hopeful attempted advances. By the end of the scene, Scorpius’s hopes have receded, just as the staircases finally recede off stage. I always watch Scorpius just before he’s wheeled off stage. When he slowly, dejectedly walks down those final steps, the hopeless, lost look on his face - the way his posture suddenly slumps as if his shoulders can’t hold the weight of the world anymore... UGH THIS IS REAL ROMANCE MOVIE SHIT HERE, PEOPLE. How can ANYONE watch this scene and not realize the pining literally happening before your eyes?!

Act 2, Scene 14 (Hogwarts, Staircases) Usually, I’ve seen Scorpius deliver the imaginary friend “I had one of those too! Hector!” line where he says HECTOR in a really aggressive way and kind of makes claw-hands accompanying it, as if HECTOR had been super fierce. But today he kind of sing-songed HECTOOOR instead, as if actually he and Hector just skipped through flowers together before their falling out over the rules of Gobstones :’) Also in this scene, after having his bout of jealousy about Delphi and demanding “How many owls has he sent you now?!”, he immediately raced down the stairs saying “NONONOI’MSORRY” desperately when Delphi began to turn and walk away. And at the bottom of the stairs, he just collapsed inward on himself, sitting down on the bottom step and hugging himself completely helplessly. You can see physically how much it pains him to be separated from Albus. I feel like usually Scorpius remains quite hopeless-looking in this scene, but this time, once Delphi told him “Find him. You two belong together,” he actually smiled and perked up with a visibly-determined look that yes, he does belong with Albus and he’s about to make good on that.

Act 2, Scene 16 (Hogwarts, Library) Okay so this is actually my FAVORITE scene of the whole play. Yes, it hurts to see Scorbus fight and hurt each other, but to me, this scene is the real heart of their whole relationship. They fight because they care so deeply, because the emotions for each other run so strong. Both of their characters are built up so well in this scene, and we see, at the end of it all, exactly why they need and love each other so much. Today, Albus started this scene more combative than I’ve usually seen him. He set Scorpius off with a particularly forceful “Maybe, without you holding me back, I can make a proper go of it.” As far as I can remember, I’ve always seen Scorpius deliver his entire speech from “Poor Albus Potter. With his chip on his shoulder. So sad” mostly uninterrupted, but today Albus fought back. I can’t remember him ever interrupting Scorpius here, but when Scorpius started working himself up to “People look at me because they think my dad is Voldemort...,” Albus exploded back, bursting out with “Oh, don’t you even...!” before Scorpius had to shout over him - “Can you even slightly imagine what that’s like?!” In the script, Albus does have a line here, but I can’t remember ever witnessing Albus have an audible outburst of anger in response to Scorpius’ accusations here. I looked over at @anthonyboyles in surprise, and she was taken aback by it too. This feeds into what I said earlier about Sam really having high intensity and anger today. As always, Anthony worked himself so expertly, movingly, and painfully from desperate anger to forlorn disappointment. His talent is always on full display here and I’m blown away by the force of him in this scene every damn time. The lines “I’m still the child of Voldemort, without a mother... I’m sorry if I’ve ruined your life because I tell you - you wouldn’t have a chance of ruining mine” still destroy me. And as for Albus’s reaction, by the time Scorpius finally reaches “The most terrible friend...” all Albus’s anger has just, finally, evaporated. There were heavy tears in his eyes and he stood there hugging himself. It was hard to tell what he felt more strongly - Pain on his friend’s behalf, or shame regarding his own behavior. Once McGonagall came and went, Sam delivered the most heartfelt, tender apology I’ve ever seen. It was delivered so slowly and deliberately, hugging himself the entire time - he had to fight his way through his own tears to get out each and every word, and the pain and regret on his face was so clear. The look on Albus’s face when Scorpius says sometimes he finds himself thinking the rumors are true was nothing short of horrified. And the “To the depths of your belly, tips of your fingers” was just so, so exquisitely heartfelt. I LOVE THIS SCENE I LOVE THEM OK MOVING ON

Act 2, Scene 17 (Hogwarts, Staircases) For the first time I can remember, Hermione actually put her hand on top of Ron’s on the staircase bannister. Usually she just rests hers beside his, but Ron’s face showed as much surprise as I felt when she actually touched his hand. And then when she turned away from him afterwards, the heartbreak and longing in her face was just devastating. There was nothing subtle about this scene tonight. They were two separated soul mates.

Act 3, Scene 3 (Office of the Head of Magical Law Enforcement) Reason #2837 why I love Anthony: He always plays this scene differently and I’m always excited to see how it unfolds. Today, he was bold and accusatory and wanted justification and answers from his father. He wasn’t afraid to seek them out. He marched up to Draco’s desk rather than speaking from across the room, getting right up in his face with the lines “this is what you really are isn’t it? A murderer, a torturer!” His anger and audacity were so bold, it didn’t seem heavy-handed when Draco slammed him down on the desk. Once Scorpius recovered and moved away again, the rest of his lines weren’t delivered sounding lost or unsure as they sometimes do, but more resigned and determined. And I always look forward to his response when Draco does the Voldemort-and-Valor salute. Tonight, Scorpius was quiet for a moment, just watching his father. Then, Scorpius very deliberately returned the salute. There are only a handful of times I can remember Scorpius ever actually fully doing the salute in any shows I’ve seen. Tonight, it seemed like a sort of promise to his father that yes, he would be careful, and an acknowledgement of the new albeit tentative understanding that had just passed between them.

Act 3, Scene 9 (Edge of the Forbidden Forest) It always hurts, but when Scorpius faced the dementors tonight, his “I can hear my mother. She wants my help but she knows I can’t help” were particularly desperate and devastating. Then comes one of my always-favorite moments with Snape’s line “Think of Albus - You’re giving up your kingdom for Albus!” After that, Scorpius gradually took a step away from the dementor, and slowly raised his hands before him. It was as if the memory of Albus slowly filling his mind began to fill his body with the courage and composure to resist and physically ward off the influence of the dementor. Okay so the library-argument scene is my favorite emotional-substance scene, but this lake scene when Albus reappears is my favorite comedic-happy scene. The last couple times I’ve seen the play, Scorpius has always screamed for an impressively long time when Albus pops up in the water next to him. And tonight, when Albus started blabbing at him, Scorpius just watched him with this sappy, weepy, overjoyed expression, as if Albus is literally the most beautiful sight to ever grace his eyes... alsdkfjadl it’s written on Scorpius’s face so clearly here how much this boy means to him, how empty Scorpius’s entire world was without him... As always, I absolutely cracked up at Scorpius’s “Yes. AND IT’S AMAZING” shimmy-dance. And the gleeful way he says “NOoO!” to Albus asking if they changed anything. The “AAAH IT’S HARRY POTTER!” is ALWAYS one of my favorite moments, and this time it was followed by a hilarious point-and-wiggle-his-arms dance that accompanied “~and Prooofessoooor McGonagaaall.” ....Have I mentioned I freakin’ love Anthony Boyle? Boy brings so much joy into my life <3 K ANYWAY...

Act 3, Scene 11 (Slytherin Dormitory) Okay. I thought this was actually the most intense scene of the entire night. This argument is relatively brief compared to the others, but DAMN was it killer. Jamie was brooding and still building on simmering residual anger from the last scene, when they were all being chewed out by McGonagall. For the first time I can remember, Harry really looked furious at Albus while listening to McGonagall’s words. In previous shows, I always had the impression that Harry’s anger at his son’s recklessness was tempered by his relief to have Albus back and safe. Tonight, the scales were just tipped allllll the way to anger - Like McGonagall’s words about all that had been sacrificed to bring about their world hit much too close to home for Harry. So at the beginning of this scene, with Harry still wearing that anger visibly on his face and Albus still stewing the most heated resentment I can ever remember seeing in him, @anthonyboyles and I looked at each other almost nervously as this scene started because it was almost like you could feel heat coming off the stage. The both of them were blistering at each other and ready to blow. ....And oh did they. Harry seemed almost too angry to speak when he got to the point of shouting “...ALMOST DESTROYED EVERYTHING!” He absolutely growled out the words “You really scared her... and me!” And then when Albus turned around to face his father at that, it was visible in his face that he wanted to hurt his father. They continued to scream at each other through “I thought Harry Potter wasn’t afraid of anything” - “Is that how I make you feel?!” .....Whew. I’m covering my face just remembering it. Sam really buzzing with that angry energy today absolutely fed into Jamie, and the two just continued to reinforce each other to some really intense heights.

Act 3, Scene 14 (Slytherin Dormitory) After seeing Albus in so much pain, what a relief to see him relaxed and joking with Scorpius. :’) Aaah, this scene is a goldmine for great Scorpius moments. After yelling over Albus’s bed to wake him up, he did a little shuffle-dance back to his bed as he dubbed himself “~Malfoy the Unanxious~”. He’s also lately been doing something that always cracks me up - When he asks Albus “But you know, we can’t, like, try again...” he makes these like pretend fighting sounds and kind of makes boxing fists with his hands like he’s miming battling someone. When he revealed the Timeturner tonight, he delivered the “Turns out Malfoy the Unanxious is a pretty good liar!” line while laying out dramatically and hilariously over his bed. Then he proceeded to lie there spread-eagle for the next couple of lines. When he finally stood up and got to the “It’s time that Time-Turning became a thing of the past” line, he delivered it with hilarious feigned stoicism, that lasted a good couple seconds before it crumbled and gave way to his gleeful “I’ve been working on it all day!” :’ ) Scorpius Malfoy everyone, what. a. gift.

Act 3, Scene 19 (Hogwarts, Quidditch Pitch) Just want to say I really enjoyed the chance to see Annabel’s Delphi. She is really unexpectedly seditious. Her voice stays so sweet, while she obvious delights and revels in the violence and horror she commits. She isn’t at all afraid to manhandle and push the boys around, taunting them ceaselessly. After she AK’s Craig, the detachment and false-kindness she speaks with when she says “Did you not understand? You are useful to me. Your friends are not” was just chilling. She kicks Craig’s body after he dies, and you feel real fear for Scorpius when she advances on him, twisting her wand almost gleefully at him, ready to do whatever she has to do and enjoy doing it.

Act 4, Scene 3 (Godric’s Hollow) Tonight was possibly my all-time favorite delivery of the iconic “My geekness is a-quivering!” line. After doing his little flaily thing and making the squeak! noise once Bathilda Bagshot walked off stage, he delivered the Geekness line while kind of strutting in what I can only describe as a swag walk. Like yeah, my geekness is a-quiverin’... whatcha gonna do about it? This boy is too much for me.

Act 4, Scene 4 (Harry’s Office) THE MOST PAINFUL HARRY SCENE - I always have to have a jacket or something in my hands to hug during this one. As always, hearing the oncoming of his tears and watching his shoulders shake as he holds his head and weeps absolutely breaks you apart to watch. But this time, what really got me was the way Jamie put across his knack for acting with every inch of his body. After he begged Dumbledore “Don’t go!” he stood leaning back against his desk for support, still covering his face with one hand. It took him a long, difficult time to work himself up to saying “I loved you too,” and in those moments, I remember watching his feet. They were twisted inwards, one of them crooked so he was leaning on the outside of his ankle. When he finally spoke the words, his feet shuddered and shuffled a bit - and then the rest of him followed, as he had to gasp the words out. They had to be wrung up all the way from his toes, and work their way up through his entire body. I didn’t see Jamie at my last performance, and it made me realize just how much he carries this show. He alone is at least 50% of the show’s emotional impact - He’s the one that makes the real tears run down my face. Then, when Draco first entered tonight and saw Harry crying, he did a hilarious turn-around walk-out move for a second before thinking better of it. Crying and laughing in such quick succession hurt quite a bit. </3 I’m currently re-reading Chamber of Secrets, so it’s really incredible with that comparison to see how much Harry and Draco’s adult selves grow, and the emotional understanding they come to in this scene. When Draco opens up about Astoria, and then breaks down a bit about how much Scorpius meant to them both - it’s nothing short of incredible to see these two opening themselves up to each other so much; Showing each other their most deeply-hidden vulnerabilities, and finding commonality between their experiences and struggles. The way both these characters are developed here as adults is nothing short of masterful.

Act 4, Scene 11 (St. Gerome’s Church) Wheeeew boy, a lot of stuff happened in this scene that’s not supposed to happen! After Voldemort fell over, Albus and Ginny messed up some lines when she’s trying to comfort him that it’s not his fault. I think Sam missed a few, so their conversation didn’t even really make sense... And then Noma was trying not to laugh. But once Delphi entered, it go back on track. Oh but then - I didn’t see it myself, but @anthonyboyles said when everyone was coming out from behind the doors, Scorpius slipped and wiped out. Wow what a trip this scene was! The struggle was real not to laugh at Voldemort falling...

Act 4, Scene 13 (Inside James and Lily Potter’s House) After the total and utter emotional devastation of the previous scene... (The script direction writes “And it’s like lighting passes through Harry’s body. He’s sent to the floor, a pure mess of grief” and this is to-the-letter exactly what happens to Jamie at the moment Lily is murdered. It’s hard to watch, hard to breathe, and his scream of utter agony when he collapses haunts you) ... I always forget about this scene immediately following it - and it always hits me hard. When Hagrid lifts up the baby Harry in his blanket and says, “And I’m going to be your friend, whether you like it or not... Because you’ve had it tough, not that you know it yet, and you’re going to need friends.” I always sit there laughing and crying at the same time - Just because Hagrid is so good and so devoted, and it’s a little, much-needed touch of heartfelt love and hope for a future where happiness will be possible again - even as the fires in the Potters’ house continue to burn on stage. It’s a beautiful, understated, and powerful scene, and it always helps me take a deep breath and recover from all that was just witnessed.

Act 4, Scene 14 (Hogwarts, Classroom) Reason #3987 why I love Anthony Boyle: He and his robes defy gravity. I know it’s his thing now to spin around and half-fall down the stairs when Rose comes in on this scene, and he’s gradually turning haphazardly falling down stairs into an art form. Today, he literally landed spread over two stairs, his legs splayed apart, and with one arm and half his robes over his head. He put on a suave expression, as if this was exactly what he had planned. I was just sitting there laughing like how did his arm and robe even get up there?! Once Rose turned to leave and he scrambled to get up, he smacked himself in the face with his robes and it was just 100% gold. And the “New version of us I had in my head” hug was very long, and very nice. :’) OH and Albus booped Scorpius on the nose, and Scorpius booped him back on the chest!! A SHOW WITH NOSE BOOPS IS A PERFECT SHOW, AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED (Doesn’t even matter that Voldemort fell over!!!)

Act 4, Scene 15 (A Beautiful Hill) Usually, we’re in the clear from Potter-pain once we get to this scene. NOT TONIGHT. I was completely unprepared - and it looked like Albus was too - but Harry choked up hard as he got to the lines “I thought I’d lost him - and then my scar started hurting again and I had dreams of him...” I mean, he had his handkerchief out and was dabbing his eyes, and it took him a while to get himself together again. It wasn’t until the laughs around confessing his pigeon-fear that he solidified again. When he finally got to telling Albus, “That heart is a good one,” his words were so convincing and touching - I can’t remember this scene ever being so moving. He usually just holds Albus’s shoulders here, but tonight he had this long intake of breath, and he kept shifting his hands between Albus’s shoulders and cupping his face. He cares about and loves his son so, so much - and finally, Albus is able to see and feel it. I can still see perfectly vividly that final image of Albus leaning his head into his father’s shoulder, with Harry’s arm around him and his hand just reaching to stroke Albus’s hair as they look up together into a brighter sky.

#Harry Potter and the Cursed Child #Harry Potter #wow this got hella long...#I was just on a roll #I see why people do these now #it's great to go back through a show experience and comb through it to commit all the extraordinary details to memory #and boy was today an EXTRAORDINARY DAY #:'')#Last time seeing the show for the foreseeable future but I couldn't have asked for a better viewing today #Got all the cast I wanted!!!!#It was a beautiful day!!!#Got great food in between!!#Yup everything was pretty damn great :''''')

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