jk rowling has revealed her frustration at the online reaction of “a group of racists” to the news that the role of hermione will be played by a black actress in the long-awaited new play harry potter and the cursed child.
The production, which has broken records by selling 175,000 tickets in 24 hours, is shaping up to be the theatrical event of the year. But the creator of Harry Potter criticized those who suggested the Hogwarts scholar heroine could not be played by Olivier Award-winning actress Noma Dumezweni.
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“With my experience on social media, I thought idiots were going to be idiots,” he said in an interview with The Observer. “But what can you say? That’s the way the world is. Noma she was chosen because she was the best actress for the job.”
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while the vast majority of people responded positively to the casting decision, rowling said: “i had a lot of racists tell me that because hermione ‘turned white’ i.e. she lost the color of her face after shock, she must be a white woman, who i have a lot of difficulties with. but i decided not to get too agitated about it and just firmly stated that hermione can be a black woman with my absolute blessing and enthusiasm.”
dumezweni was chosen by the play’s director, john tiffany, known for black watch productions and the musical eleven, who has collaborated with rowling and playwright jack thorne, author of this is england and the last panthers.
tiffany said she was surprised by the opinions expressed online, but had stopped reading the comments. “I’m not as familiar with twitter as jo and jack, so I hadn’t found its dark side, which is horrible. but what surprised me was the way people couldn’t envision a non-white person as the hero of a story. so it’s brilliant that this happened.”
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rowling has pointed out that there is no reason why hermione should be white. the books do not explicitly mention her race or skin color, and she is often depicted as black in fan art.
The two-part production will open at the Palace Theater in London’s West End at the end of July. last week, preview audiences were asked to arrive an hour early and check their bags. The request follows controversy surrounding Benedict Cumberbatch’s village in the Barbican, when security personnel battled to prevent audience members from filming or photographing, forcing the star to urge fans not to record. his performance.
The creators of the play have kept quiet about the plot, posting only brief hints on social media and the pottermore website. The story is expected to pick up where the seventh and final book left off: Harry is an overworked Ministry of Magic employee, married with three school-age children. The play will focus on Harry’s youngest son, Albus, who “must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted.”
rowling, who provided ideas but handed the responsibility of writing the script to thorne, described the production as extraordinary. writing for the theater was a new language, she said. “So seeing Jack and what he can do on the page and his understanding of what that will then translate to on stage has been a huge eye-opener for me.”
added that potter had never left her. “It was 17 years, and just because I stopped on the page doesn’t mean my imagination stopped,” she said. “It’s like running a very long race. you can’t stop in your tracks at the finish line. I had some material and some ideas and themes, and the three of us [nods at Tiffany and Thorne] created a story.”
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