There’s a little witch or wizard that’s about to be joining Toronto’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child family! Actor Sarah Afful, who plays Hermione in the Ed Mirvish Theatre production of the play, will be going on maternity leave starting Sept. 30 in preparation for her second child.
In her place, Antoinette Robinson from the Broadway company will be taking on the role during her leave and making her Canadian stage debut.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which premiered in Toronto on May 31 and will be on until March 19, follows the next generation of the Harry Potter gang – Harry’s son, Albus, Draco Malfoy’s son, Scorpio and Hermione and Ron’s daughter, Rose.
Afful was born in Vancouver but has been living and working in Toronto throughout her career. She was joined by Ontario local Luke Kimball as Albus, Toronto-born Trish Lindstrom as Ginny Potter, Ontario-based Hailey Lewis as Rose-Granger Weasley, Toronto’s Sarah Farb as Delphi Diggory and well-known Ontario-based stage actor Fiona Reid as Professor McGonagall.
That makes Robinson the first non-Canadian to join the Toronto cast – the actor is from Texas and has performed in stage productions across the United States.
Afful, who is Black, broke barriers when she was cast as Hermione. She joined the ranks of a few talented Black actors who were cast in the role in New York, London and elsewhere, moving away from the traditionally white casting of not only Hermione but the entire Harry Potter cast in the original movies and other productions.
Afful wrote about representation on Instagram recently when she and the cast attended Fan Expo in Toronto. “A few weeks ago the Harry Potter group and I spoke at Fan Expo. There were not enough people of colour. It’s been sitting with me. Representation is so important. We tend to be what we see. I hope I can provide all the world for my son, but I know I will need help,” she said.
Mirvish has yet to announce when Afful will be back in the role, but when she returns, it will be with a baby Granger on board and ready to cheer her on as she makes some on-stage magic.
