J.K. Rowling Reveals Epic New ‘Harry Potter’ Stage Play

It’s set 19 years later and features Harry’s son.

The Harry Potter franchise will never die. It’s been years since the book series came to a happy domestic conclusion (SPOILER ALERT) with the marriage of Harry and Ginny, and yet the series is still a constant presence in our lives and our Facebook feeds. So who can blame J.K. Rowling for trying to squeeze a few more drops of juice out of her young wizard? 

Certainly not us. We’re actually kind of excited about it! 

Rowling’s new stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, will debut in London’s West End in the summer of 2016, and will center on an adult Harry and his youngest son Albus 19 years after the events of the last book. Rowling and her team (featuring Tony-winning director John Tiffany and writer Jack Thorne) revealed the details in a summary of the project:

“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.”

The show, which will be split into two full-length parts, will feature a cast of more than thirty. Preview performances begin July 7 before the full debut of both parts on July 30 at London’s Palace Theatre.

If it succeeds there (and we imagine it just might), a Broadway run seems like a good bet.

Photos by Everett Collection