According to Entertainment Weekly, author J.K. Rowling will be expanding the story of Harry Potter beyond the page and the screen to the London stage when a new play titled “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” opens at the Palace Theatre on London’s West End next year.
English television writer Jack Thorne and Tony Award-winning director John Tiffany, who recently adapted the Swedish film Let the Right One In for the stage, worked with Rowling closely on the project, which the UK’s Daily Mail suggests will focus on Harry’s parents Lily and James Potter before they were murdered by Lord Voldemort and, of course, the pint-sized title wizard. Rowling, who did not write the “Cursed Child” script personally, will co-produce along with theater veterans Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender.
Rowling issued the following statement over Twitter, which we have compiled below:
“Today is a very special day for two reasons,” Rowling declared. “Firstly, ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ was published in the UK 18 years ago! I’m also very excited to confirm today that a new play called ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ will be opening in London next year. It will tell a new story, which is the result of a collaboration between writer Jack Thorne, director John Tiffany and myself. I don’t want to say too much more, because I don’t want to spoil what I know will be a real treat for fans. However, I can say that it is not a prequel! To answer one inevitable (and reasonable!) question – ‘Why isn’t ‘Cursed Child’ a new novel?’ – I am confident that when audiences see the play they will agree that it was the only proper medium for the story. I’ve had countless offers to extend Harry’s story over the years, but Jack, John and Sonia Friedman are a dream team! It has been a huge pleasure to share with them (and soon, with you!) this untold part of Harry’s story.”
The only confusing point may be Rowling’s statement that “Cursed Child” will NOT be a prequel, which may suggest that the play is framed by modern-day sequences of someone, perhaps Harry himself, investigating further into the death of his parents.
