NEW YORK, July 20 — Potter fans are eagerly waiting for the curtains to rise at the official opening for JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on July 30 at the Palace Theatre in London. For those who did not manage to get ahold of a ticket for the show, the script itself will be on sale from July 31.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will open to the general public from the end of July. The show, divided into two parts, releases 40 tickets every Friday, but these sell out almost instantly. When the tickets first became available, the play broke West End records by selling 175,000 tickets in just 24 hours.
Read the script
Potterheads (Harry Potter fans) may be disappointed that there will be no eighth novel in the Harry Potter franchise, but at least they will be able to follow the script of the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I and II play, published in print by Scholastic in the US, and digitally by Pottermore.
Even before hitting stores, it seems that the Potter sequel is already a success: within the first day of pre-orders, the “Special Rehearsal Edition script” had topped Amazon and Waterstones best-seller charts. To help real fans, not automated bots, get hold of tickets, Pottermore is running a closed ticket sale on July 21, with emails sent out to interested parties containing instructions on how to purchase tickets (although limited) for September 1.
The script will hit bookstores in the UK at midnight on July 31, following the first opening night performances. A later, “Definitive Edition” script is planned for release in early 2017, which will replace the “Special Rehearsal Edition.”
What we know
The production team have been tight-lipped about the plot, which takes place 19 years after the destruction of Lord Voldemort, at the spot where JK Rowling left her readers in “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows.” The official synopsis explains that Harry is now “an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children” who has to grapple with “a past that refuses to stay where it belongs.” A fusion of past and present is promised, ending on the ominous note that “sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.”
JK Rowling: Not acting alone
For this edition, JK Rowling worked with the BAFTA award-winning playwright Jack Thorne. Thorne has also produced the scripts for the critically acclaimed stage version of Let The Right One In and The Solid Life of Sugar Water and was the writer for the popular TV shows Skins and This is England. The play is being directed by John Tiffany, winner of a Tony Award, an Olivier Award, a Drama Desk Award and an Obie Award. — AFP-Relaxnews
