Harry Potter author JK Rowling took to Twitter last Friday, June 26, to announce that a play based on the boy wizard, titled "Harry Potter and The Cursed Child," will be making its debut in London next year. Since then, rumor mills went abuzz with speculation that the forthcoming play is a Harry Potter prequel. However, the famous author insists that the play is not a prequel.
According to a report from the Mirror UK, Rowling told fans and a news outlet that "Harry Potter and The Cursed Child" is not a prequel, tweeting, "@CNBCWorld It's not a prequel. It really, really isn't a prequel. Not a prequel. Not at all prequelly. It is an anti-prequel. #NotAPrequel." The author's Twitter message was posted after a news outlet reported that the play is a prequel, along with the countless messages that Rowling received from Harry Potter fans asking if the play is such.
According to Time, the famous author also clarified that the play "Harry Potter and The Cursed Child" is still a part of the Harry Potter universe, having termed it as a "canon." Rowling further mentioned that although she and director John Tiffany developed the play together, writer Jack Thorne penned the script.
The "Harry Potter and The Cursed Child" is a collaboration between JK Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne. Rowling hadrevealed that having the "Cursed Child" in a play format is the perfect medium to tell the "untold part of Harry's story," instead of it being released as a novel. The writer is confident that Harry Potter fans will also agree with her "when audiences see the play."
The new Harry Potter play will be produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender's Playground Entertainment and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions, with John Tiffany taking the helm as the play's director. "Harry Potter and The Cursed Child" will premiere at the Palace Theatre in London's West End summer of next year. Tickets will go on public sale this fall.
