In the forthcoming Harry Potter stage sequel, the Boy Who Lived has a mortgage, makes dumb dad jokes, and drives a minivan. Okay, well maybe not quite, but according to an announcement on the official Harry Potter website, the eighth "story" in the series, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, is set 19 years after the last book ended and will be a two-part stage play — with an adult Harry:
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. [Pottermore]
While Pottermore calls the story "epic," which is why it necessitates two parts and 30-plus actors, the whole thing sounds a little like a joke. For what it's worth, the project is in what one would hope are good hands: The Cursed Child is being written by Jack Thorne (a writer for Skins and Shameless) and directed by Tony award-winner John Tiffany, in collaboration with J.K. Rowling.
"I'm confident that when audiences see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child they will understand why we chose to tell this story in this way," Rowling said in the announcement.
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Tickets for the show go on sale next week; the play premieres in London's West End in summer 2016.
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