A new London stage reimagining of Harry Potter will feature Noma Dumezweni, an actor of South African heritage, in the role of Hermione.
The Palace theatre production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child announced it has cast the three main roles, with Jamie Parker as an adult Harry Potter and Paul Thornley as Ron Weasley.
Opening in July 2016, the stage play is written by Jack Thorne, based on a story Thorne wrote together with the play’s director John Tiffany as well as Harry Potter author JK Rowling.
Rowling told Harry Potter website Pottermore: “I’m so excited with the choice of casting for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I can’t wait to see Jamie, Noma and Paul bring the adult Harry, Hermione and Ron to life on stage next summer.”
The two-part play (to be watched either as a matinee then evening show or over two consecutive nights) is set 19 years after the seven-part book series ended, and casts Potter as an “overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and a father of three school-age children”, according to the play’s website.
“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.”
Dumezweni was born in 1969 in Swaziland to South African parents and moved to England as a child. She won the Olivier award for best performance in a supporting role for her work in 2005’s A Raisin In The Sun.
She recently replaced Kim Cattrall in Penny Skinner’s play Linda in a “knockout” performance, according to Guardian critic Susannah Clapp.
Her costars Parker, 36, and Thornley, 40, are stage and screen staples, with Parker best known as the original Scripps in Alan Bennett’s play The History Boys and Thornley recently appearing in Doc Martin and London Road.
