Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a play written by playwright Jack Thorne, directed by John Tiffany, and based on an original story by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.
The story begins nineteen years after the Battle of Hogwarts in the epilogue scene at King's Cross train station from the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. In this story, we see Harry struggling to connect with his middle son Albus, while also sustaining his job as the Head of Magical Law for the Ministry of Magic. After receiving some intel about an illegal Time-Turner, Harry works with Minister for Magic Hermione Granger (who is married to his best friend and brother-in-law, Ron Weasley) to track it down. The play becomes an exploration of Harry's relationship with his middle son, and a chase through the past to save the future.
Addressing her decision to create the story as a play, Rowling has said that she “is confident that when audiences see the play they will agree that it is the only proper medium for the story.” Jamie Parker from The History Boys was cast as Harry Potter, Noma Dumezweni playing Hermione Granger, and Paul Thornley playing Ron Weasley. The casting of black actress Dumezweni as the original Hermione gained praise and attention. Though the character of Hermione Granger has been portrayed as white in the movies, author J.K. Rowling tweeted in response to the casting of Dumezweni "Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione."
The play officially premiered on July 30, 2016 at the Palace Theatre in London to rave international reviews followed by the publication of the Special Rehearsal Script the day after. The book sales of the script were highly successful, selling more copies than the original Harry Potter books in under a day. The play is slated to come to Broadway in 2018.
