Those familiar with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be super familiar with the iconic opening scene of the first movie in the series, The Philosopher’s Pebble. It shows Albus Dumbledore, an elderly international man of mystery, walking down the privileged street and melting all the lamps, right? No? Not quite? Well, this is what you get when you take a famous script, run it through an AI translator app into ten or so languages, and finally translate it back to English.

In their only PG session of the Fringe, Braw Media’s Lost in Translation: Harry Potter – PG Edition, have done this with the beloved story of the Boy Who Lived with hilarious and, at times, confusing and ridiculous results. Over 60 minutes, the players present a condensed version of the (many times) translated script in which characters change names, events are familiar but not quite right, and the literal interpretation of some words and actions imposed by the AI is both funny and silly. The reason it works is because the audience knows what’s supposed to happen in the movie, versus the AI end-product presented on stage.

In reviewing a show like this, it is often difficult to provide sufficient detail to convey its appeal without including spoilers. However, as there’s only one of this particular movie, and it’s done and dusted for 2025, here’s a few favs from me and my four kid-experts to whet your appetite for their other, less-PG, shows:

- In the famous birthday scene where Dudley complains about the number of presents he receives, he advises that “last year, last year I turned 37.”
- “Harry Potter” becomes “Barry Potter” and then further on “Barry Ceramics”.
- Rather than ordinary letters, the owls deliver a barrage of love letters including a memoir about Harry himself.
- Fictional places as dear to fans as the characters themselves change names to give us the “Wart Riddled Hog” and the “Leaky Stockpot”.
- And if Draco Malfoy was embarrassed by his name before, he’d be mortified by his new moniker, “Draco Marshmallow”.
- Finally, in a translation that, hours later, I still haven’t cracked, ‘wizards’ become ‘optometrists’ who do not choose their magic sticks but rather ‘the magic stick chooses the optometrist’. Why ‘optometrist’, AI? ChatGPT assures me it’s not responsible for that one which “sounds like a bizarre and unexpected translation!”  Very wise, ChatGPT, very wise indeed – just like that elderly, international man of mystery…

I could go on (and on) as the corkers came thick and fast, showing the truth in the saying that something was ‘lost in translation’. But in case Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Pebble makes a magical comeback in 2026, I’ll cease the spoilers there. Of the four kids with me today (who were 9-years—13-years), three knew the script off by heart and laughed for the whole show, while the one uninitiated child still found it funny but missed some meaning. And, fair to say, the whole audience lost meaning at one point or another.

The crew did a good job of reigning it in so that the story was still recognisable, if skewed, but there were places where they let AI have free reign. In these parts, characters changed names multiple times during scenes, including to become particular makes and models of cars (which was just impossible to follow), and actions described were either stupidly funny (Hermione’s hands kept falling off) or a lot of nonsense. It worked because it was reserved for the end, rather than the whole show being of this ilk.

The performers also delivered some great accents and character voice work; however, this is much more of a staged reading than it is an actual play. Don’t expect lavish costumes or stage settings (or any stage settings) and given that the venue is in the round, with audience members on three sides, it would have provided better visuals had the players stood further back. As it was, those on the sides had difficulty seeing and engaging with performers because they only faced the front. Hopefully, they’ll adjust this for future performances.

All in all, it was a fun, silly hour that perhaps held a deeper message about communication in general and the power of AI to mislead and adulterate. I mean, if it thinks that the darkest wizard of all time, the one whose name must not be uttered, is ‘Goldilocks’, well, it just makes the point for me.

If this sounds like the sort of show you’d enjoy, check out their other upcoming performances of famous movies in less-PG offerings. And, to ensure you get the most out of it, watch the movie first so you know what happened versus what AI thinks happened. Otherwise, you might not understand what’s so funny about a bunch of kids on brooms playing a quiche match.