text: Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE Harry Potter grows up in a new original play, 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.' As Leigh Scheps (@LeighTVReporter) explains, it's the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. Buzz60 
   
   Daniel Radcliffe in 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2.' (Photo: Jaap Buitendijk, Warner Bros. Pictures) 
   
   Harry Potter is about to get a little Cursed. 
   
   The upcoming play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which J.K. Rowling announced in June, will follow an adult Harry and his youngest son, Albus, making it officially the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first to be told onstage. The play, running next summer at the Palace Theater in London, is in two parts due to the "epic nature of the story," Rowling said on her Pottermore site. 
   
   So now you know it really isn't a prequel: Harry Potter & the #CursedChild starts #19yearslater! Go to @HPPlayLDN for more information. — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 23, 2015 
   
   "19 years later" is significant to Potter fans. The epilogue to the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, takes place 19 years after the events of the book, and sees Harry, along with his friends Ron and Hermione, dropping their children off at the Hogwarts Express. 
   
   The play also debuted its official artwork, which features a child hunched inside a nest that appears to have black wings. 
   
   Sneak peek! See our brand new artwork for Harry Potter and the #CursedChild! pic.twitter.com/wEaPOELgvF — Harry Potter Play (@HPPlayLDN) October 22, 2015 
   
   Fans may speculate that the boy in the image is Albus, but it was not made clear whether the youngest Potter is in fact the titular cursed child. Here's the official synopsis, via Pottermore: 
   
   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. 
   
   Rowling also revealed that Cursed Child will feature a company of over 30 actors, but casting will be announced at a later date. 
   
   Tickets for the play go on sale at 11am GMT on Wed. Oct. 28 to those who have registered for priority booking, and 11am GMT on Friday Oc. 30 for the general public (full ticketing information is available here). 
   
   Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1LRnjFc ||||| Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the official eighth Potter story and the first to be presented on stage. 
   
   It’s official. The Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and we have the synopsis to share with you: 
   
   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. 
   
   When we last saw Harry he was waving off his eldest children, James Sirius and Albus Severus, at platform nine and three-quarters. This next exciting chapter in the story will explore Harry’s life after that moment for the very first time. 
   
   Written by Jack Thorne and directed by Olivier and Tony award-winner John Tiffany, the play is a brand new story written in collaboration with J.K. Rowling. 
   
   The play is in two parts, due to the ‘epic nature of the story’, and will feature a cast of more than 30 actors, to be announced later. 
   
   J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany say: ‘It is very exciting to explore Harry’s world in a brand new way through the live form of theatre. Collaborating on this story is exhilarating for all of us and we can’t wait to present the eighth story at the Palace Theatre next summer.’ 
   
   ‘The story only exists because the right group of people came together with a brilliant idea about how to present Harry Potter on stage,’ continues 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.’ 
   
   Harry Potter and the Cursed Child comes to London’s West End summer 2016.
target: – JK Rowling announced back in June that Harry Potter was coming to the London stage, but until now, there was much speculation the stage play's plot would be a prequel to the books. Rowling debunked that today: "So now you know it really isn't a prequel," she tweeted. "Harry Potter & the #CursedChild starts #19yearslater!" Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opens at the Palace Theater in the summer of 2016, and tickets go on sale next week, USA Today reports. Rowling's site Pottermore has more details on the plot, which involves Potter and his youngest son, Albus Severus. "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," reads the official synopsis. "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 play's official Twitter account has artwork and more info. (Albus' older brother, James Sirius, started at Hogwarts last month.)