The month ahead: January 2016

Keep an eye on...

Noma Dumezweni

Noma Dumezweni's career is currently soaring from strength to strength. This week she is giving her final performances as the title character in Linda at the Royal Court, a role she took over from Kim Cattrall two weeks before opening night. She is also preparing to make her directorial debut, helming I See You by Mongiwekhaya which begins performances at the Royal Court in February. Later this year she will take on the role of a lifetime, starring as Hermione in J.K. Rowling's play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Dumezweni is certainly one to watch!

Sheila Hancock & Jenna Russell

Later this week (7th Jan) the European première of Grey Gardens opens to press at the Southwark Playhouse. Thom Southerland's production stars Sheila Hancock and Jenna Russell, both of whom are Olivier Award winning actresses. In 2007 Hancock won Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical for playing Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret whilst Russell won Best Actress in a Musical in 2006 for playing Dot in Sunday in the Park with George. There's already talk in theatreland about both stars giving performances to remember; Grey Gardens plays until 6th February 2016.

Shows that should be on your radar...

Harry Potter Play: Meet Harry, Hermione & Ron

Last night it was announced that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will star Jamie Parker as Harry, Noma Dumezweni as Hermione and Paul Thornley as Ron. Meet the cast below!

Discussing the casting, J.K. Rowling said: “I’m so excited with the choice of casting for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I can’t wait to see Jamie, Noma and Paul bring the adult Harry, Hermione and Ron to life on stage next summer.”

Jamie Parker

Jamie Parker is currently playing Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls at the Savoy Theatre, a role he previously performed at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Parker most recently played Mike in High Society at the Old Vic and famously starred alongside James Corden, Dominic Cooper and Russell Tovey in The History Boys at the National Theatre, in the West End and on Broadway, later reprising his performance for the film.

Parker's extensive theatre credits incliude: Assassins & Proof for the Menier Chocolate Factory, Candida for the Theatre Royal Bath, Drama, Holes in the Skin, Seagulls, The Coffee House, The Commuter and The Gondoliers at Chichester Festival Theatre, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof for the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Henry V, Henry IV Parts One and Two, A New World and As You Like It for Shakespeare’s Globe, King James Bible and The Revenger’s Tragedy for the National Theatre, Racing Demon for Sheffield Crucible, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead for the Theatre Royal Haymarket and Chichester Festival Theatre, My Zinc Bed for the Royal & Derngate Theatre, Singer for the Tricycle Theatre, At the Exit for Chichester Edge, Between the Crosses for the Jermyn Street Theatre and The Sneeze and After the Dance for Oxford Stage Company. 

BREAKING: First casting revealed for Harry Potter Play

It has been announced that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will star Jamie Parker as Harry, Noma Dumezweni as Hermione and Paul Thornley as Ron.

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will receive its world premiere in London’s West End at the Palace Theatre in the summer of 2016.

Rowling said: “I’m so excited with the choice of casting for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I can’t wait to see Jamie, Noma and Paul bring the adult Harry, Hermione and Ron to life on stage next summer.”