For months, J.K. Rowling and co. have been telling Harry Potter fans that no, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is not a prequel. And now, they can lay that rumor to rest with the official announcement on Rowling’s Facebook page: The two-part play “will start where the seventh book left off, and is the eighth story in the series.” They’ve also released a synopsis!
From the play’s official website:
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.
It makes perfect sense that the eighth installment would center on little Albus Severus Potter, who confesses to his father in the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that he’s worried he’ll be sorted into Slytherin. (Want to bet that’s him in the poster?) And what’s this about Harry’s past refusing to stay buried? Could there be a resurgence of Death Eaters?
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will be presented in both parts; theatergoers will have the option to see both in one day, or on consecutive nights. You have until tomorrow, October 25, to register for priority booking for tickets; they will go on-sale for priority booking on October 28 at 11 a.m. GMT, and October 30th at 11 a.m. GMT for the general public. The play starts previews on London’s West End in June 2016, with a July 2016 premiere.