Dumezweni will be the first person of color to play a member of the trio in any major canonical productions drawn from the Potter-verse.
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In the films, Hermione was played by Emma Watson, a white woman.
Noma Dumezweni, an English actress who was born in Swaziland, has been cast as Hermione, with Jamie Parker playing Harry and Paul Thornley as Ron Weasley.
After word got out that Noma Dumezweni would be starring in the upcoming play Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, a number of people complained on Twitter that the role was never intended for a black person.
Rowling said in a statement, “I’m so excited with the choice of casting for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”.
Meanwhile, Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe recently discussed his career choices, which have seen him move away from blockbusters to play characters including poet Allen Ginsberg, and Igor in this year’s Victor Frankenstein. “Rowling loves black Hermione”, Rowling wrote on Twitter. Yet it’s the casting of Olivier Award-winning South African actress Dumezweni that’s caused the most controversy, since some fans feel that having a black actress play Hermione compromises the character somehow.
Some of the actors from the film series also deflected negative reactions via social media, including Evanna Lynch, who portrayed Luna Lovegood, and Matthew Lewis, who portrayed Neville Longbottom.
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Titled Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the Palace theatre production is based on an original story written by Jack Thorne (the play’s writer), John Tiffany (the play’s director) and Harry Potter creator JK Rowling. Harry is now an “overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic”, and his 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”.
