Is the Harry Potter stage play ‘Cursed Child’ cursed? Larger question: Can we support the art without considering the artist?

“Nothing’s all black, but then nothing’s all white?”— Stephen Sondheim’s “Children Will Listen”

If you know me, or have read me, I have an enduring passion for live theater. Yet I have decided not to see or review “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” It’s fantastically staged, I’ve been told, and I’m intrigued. I may even regret missing it. A reviewer has a responsibility not to judge a work before seeing it. Why did I make this curious decision?

Allyship requires giving up something we want.

J.K. Rowling’s vile anti-transgender activism and financial backing has changed the way I see Harry Potter.

The franchise is now filtered through Rowling. There are those who continue to embrace Harry Potter without confronting the transphobia, and others have insisted on a boycott.

The larger question remains: Can we support the art without supporting the artist?

“The Cursed Child” has been playing on Broadway since April 2018, and the tour is about to open at the Eccles. A television adaptation is being made. The franchise isn’t simply an old collection of books and films. It is an active, enormously profitable enterprise.

My decision is complicated by my family’s dynamics.

Deeply closeted, I was married. She has gender-identity hostility. We co-parent two sons. My youngest enjoys all things Harry Potter — and attending theater. His mother has encouraged me to take him to the show. My decision angered her.

Increasing the family drama: My older, nonbinary son is a passionate supporter of trans people. He’s incensed about his mother’s deep-seated prejudice. He knows his brother would enjoy the show. And, as a Broadway director, he shares my enthusiasm for theater.

I don’t imply people who see “Cursed Child” are anti-trans. There’s no judgment on those involved with production. They are not Rowling; they are artists pursuing their craft. Rowling helped develop the play and, as a producer, has a direct financial stake in its success.

There’s a difference between appreciating what the books once meant and financially and publicly supporting the franchise today.

Allyship is easy when it costs nothing.

Harry’s wand-waving is powerless to undo the curse. I can’t, as Dorothy was told, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.