LONDON — What do Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger look like 19 years after Lord Voldemort has been vanquished? In “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” a play based on J.K. Rowling’s novels about the wizarding world that is to open July 30 in the West End, they will look like Jamie Parker (Harry), Paul Thornley (Ron) and Noma Dumezweni (Hermione), who were announced as the lead actors in the two-part production on Monday.
“I can’t wait to see Jamie, Noma and Paul bring the adult Harry, Hermione and Ron to life on stage next summer,” Ms. Rowling wrote on the website Pottermore. She responded to a Twitter post speculating about how she felt about the casting of Ms. Dumezweni, who is black, saying on Twitter in response: “White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione.”
All three actors are well-known in Britain. Mr. Parker, who was in both the stage and screen versions of Alan Bennett’s “The History Boys,” is currently starring in “Guys and Dolls” in the West End, while Ms. Dumezweni recently took over the title role in Penelope Skinner’s “Linda,” when Kim Cattrall dropped out a week before previews began. Mr. Thornley, who has played leading roles in a number of West End productions, recently appeared in the film “London Road.”
“To assure all doubters — Paul is ginger in his soul,” Jack Thorne said on Twitter, referring to Ron Weasley’s red hair. He is a co-writer of the play with Ms. Rowling and John Tiffany.
Mr. Tiffany will direct the play, which picks up from the epilogue in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the final book in the series. “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 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.”
Sonia Friedman, who is co-producing the play with Colin Callender, said in an interview in The Daily Mail, that she and Mr. Callender, as well as Ms. Rowling, Mr. Tiffany and Mr. Thorne, were all involved in the casting decisions.
Previews for “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” are to begin June 7. The tickets for the first four months of performances sold out within hours of the tickets going on sale in October.
An earlier version of this post misspelled an actress's surname. It is Kim Cattrall, not Catrall.