The casting of Noma Dumezweni as Hermione in the play Harry Potter and The Cursed Child brought about a fair whack of criticism. In case you’ve been tuned out to the whole deal, Dumezweni assumes the role of an older, wizened witch after the events of The Deathly Hallows, but the fact Dumezweni is black is what got the muggles stirred. Shock. Horror.
The optimists in us put that reaction down to simple cognitive dissonance. After all, most Harry Potter fans had spent the past decade watching Emma Watson galavant around the joint, and seeing a black version of the character materialise might have just been a simple visual jolt removed from the concept of race.
Watching the series’ mastermind J.K. Rowling repeatedly address the issue serves as a counterpoint to that view. The author took to Twitter to refute the critics’ claims that Hermione just can’t be a woman of colour, and she’s also spoken at length on the issue in interviews. Remember, this is a character that she created, and has complete canonical control over.
Which leads us to today’s development in the play’s subtext. Watson herself rocked up to the play, chilled out with Dumezweni, and gave her official approval to the woman now portraying the role onstage in London.
The caption to those shots may as well be “SO, THERE.” In the actual statement accompanying those decidedly magical images Watson wrote she “came [to the theatre] with no idea what to expect and it was AMAZING.
Some things about the play were, I think, possibly even more beautiful than the films. Having seen it I felt more connected to Hermione and the stories than I have since Deathly Hallows came out, which was such a gift.Meeting Noma and seeing her on stage was like meeting my older self and have her tell me everything was going to be alright, which as you can imagine was immensely comforting (and emotional)! The cast and crew welcomed me like I was family and Noma was everything I could ever hope she would be. She’s wonderful.The music is beautiful… I could go on…”
And, with that, we can only hope any future complaints against Dumezweni’s portrayal will solely focus on her actual performance on stage. Still, if early reviews of the play are anything to go by, the complaints might just be done for good.
Source and photo: Emma Watson / Facebook.
