In addition to Bloomsbury’s publishing update from this morning, Pottermore has revealed today that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will be published as a Special Rehearsal Edition book on Harry and Jo’s birthday – July 31st 2016. This will not be a traditional book, it will be a version of the script that was used during previews of the play. Plays traditionally make small changes throughout previews, so the book will then be updated to reflect these changes. According to their post:
Print and digital editions will publish simultaneously after the play’s world premiere this summer, and will comprise of the version of the play script at the time of the play’s preview performances.
Theatre previews allow the creative team the chance to rehearse and explore scenes further before a production’s official opening night. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opens for previews several weeks before its official first performance on Saturday 30 July and the Special Rehearsal Edition of the script book will later be replaced by a Definitive Collector’s Edition.
The play opens in London’s West End this summer, based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. It is officially the eighth story in Harry Potter canon and a new play by Jack Thorne.
The actors who will be portraying Harry, Ron and Hermione in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child have been announced. A photo of the three has also been released and may be viewed in the gallery. Producer Sonia Friedman said the casting was a collective decision involving Rowling, Tiffany, Thorne, Callender and herself. ‘We were all involved with all the key casting decisions.’ According to the Daily Mail:
Harry will be played by 36-year-old Jamie Parker, an original member of Alan Bennett’s History Boys cast at the National Theatre, while Paul Thornley has been cast as Ron Weasley.
>Ron, his hair now receding, is married to Hermione – a part won by Noma Dumezweni, 45, who was born in Swaziland to South African parents fleeing apartheid. She moved with her mother and sister to Suffolk when she was seven.
As a quick refresher for those unfamiliar with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. It is a two part play opening in London next year. Official previews for The Cursed Child begin on June 7, though there will be some in late May that will be available to the public. The official opening is July 30. The official synopsis for The Cursed Child is as follows:
It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.
While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.
Tickets for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child can be purchased over at the official website. Since it is a two part play, the way you book is a little different from other plays:
On Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays there will be a matinee performance of Part One and an evening performance of Part Two. One ticket will automatically secure you the same seat for both Part One and Part Two on the same day.
On Thursdays there will be an evening performance of Part One and on Fridays an evening performance of Part Two. If you choose to see Part One on a Thursday evening, we will automatically book you into Part Two the following Friday evening.
Yesterday the Twitterverse went crazy over some new Harry Potter and the Cursed Child news. We waited until there was more concrete information to post, which we have gotten this morning! The website has been updated to let us know that it is a SEQUEL, so now we know why Rowling was adamant it wasn’t a prequel.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child officially opens at the Palace Theatre London in July 2016, with preview performances from late May 2016. Tickets will go on sale October 30th, for more information on ticket prices and preview tickets, click here. It is one play presented in two Parts, which are intended to be seen in order on the same day (matinee and evening) or on two consecutive evenings.
Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a new play by Jack Thorne. It is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage.
It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.
While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.
J.K. Rowling confirmed on Twitter today that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will now be two separate plays due to the “epic nature o the story.” Pottermore was also updated with further information. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will open in London’s West End summer 2016, with tickets going on sale this Autumn. You can register for priority booking at HarryPotterthePlay.com.
The important bits from the Pottermore post may be read below:
Bafta-winning writer Jack Thorne was elated by the chance to delve deeper into the wizarding world.‘Obviously I loved it when we decided to tell this story in two parts,’ Jack tells us, ‘because I got to spend more time with the characters and what an honour that has been. It continues to be unbelievable and amazing that I’ve been given this extraordinary chance to bring Harry Potter to the stage. As a fan, who just devoured the books and the films, this couldn’t be more exciting for me.’
The significance of the stage play is not lost on Tony and Olivier Award-winning director John Tiffany. He feels that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a unique production, and we’re inclined to agree.
‘I’ve never worked on anything quite like this before,’ he says. ‘Usually in theatre you’re adapting existing material or creating an entirely new play. With the Cursed Child we have been given the unique opportunity to explore some of the most cherished books and beloved characters ever written, yet work with J.K. Rowling to tell a story from that world that no one yet knows – it’s exhilarating. It shares a scale and ambition with all the Harry Potter stories so in order to do this justice we have decided to present the play in two parts.’
In a new interview with Scotland Now, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child director John Tiffany discussed working with J.K. Rowling on the project. He started the interview by telling Scotland Now that he actually met Rowling 20 years ago in this anecdote:
“I first met Jo years ago when we didn’t know who each other was. I had just started at the Traverse in Edinburgh, and now and again I would see a woman with a pram writing in longhand in the cafe. She’d write in Nicholson’s, The Elephant House and the Traverse cafe. We knew each other to nod at. I’d be having meetings with writers and actors and I’d see her. Eventually we’d say hello to each other and a year later – bam!. Then I realised that’s what she was doing.
On the actual play he says:
“We’ve been working with actors since the beginning of this year, but the characters are the stars of this – so I don’t think we’ll be saying a hot Hollywood actor will be playing Harry Potter.
“I also think it’s an important story for Scotland. It’s important that Scotland feels it has a connection. Jack (Thorne, who has worked with Rowling and Tiffany on the script) and I worked together on my last show for National Theatre of Scotland, Let The Right One In.
“I’d love for this to eventually tour to places like Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness as well as around the world. Scotland is present in the Harry Potter stories with characters like McGonagall and the viaduct at Glenfinnan. Obviously we won’t have the viaduct but the country is a place which feels very alive in these stories.
The Daily Mail reports that the Harry Potter play that’s been in the works for quite some time is finally coming. The play will open in Summer 2016 at the Palace Theater which is on the West End in London. Tickets will go on sale in autumn of this year. The play is titled Harry Potter And The Cursed Child and follows Lily and James Potter before they were killed. J.K. Rowling developed the play in collaboration with writer Jack Thorne and John Tiffany who will also be directing the play.
The Cursed Child delves into what happened to Harry’s parents — Lily Evans Potter and James Potter — before they were killed by Lord Voldemort, forcing an infant Harry to be raised in miserable circumstances by his mother’s sister, Petunia, her horrid husband Vernon and their spoiled son Dudley.
Informal casting has already started, with the play’s creative team — plus producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender — keeping an eye on thespians with the potential to play the leads at the Palace Theatre.
The roles are perfect for up-and-coming young actors.
Lily was just 20 when Harry was born, and a year older when she and husband James were slain.
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