J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to Open in 2016

JK Rowling has announced her Harry Potter stage play will open in London's West End in 2016.

Titled Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the play will tell the "untold part" of The Boy Who Lived, including the story of his murdered parents, but the author said on Twitter the play was "not a prequel".

The Cursed Child will run at the Palace Theatre in the summer of 2016, with tickets on sale this autumn.

Rowling said she decided to make the announcement on Friday because it was "a very special day" - the 18th anniversary of when her debut book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was first published in the UK.

But Rowling didn't want to fully reveal her mystery yet, saying she did not "want to say too much more, because I don't want to spoil what I know will be a real treat for fans".

She added: "To answer one inevitable (and reasonable!) question - why isn't Cursed Child a new novel? I am confident that when audiences see the play they will agree that it was the only proper medium for the story."

The new story is a collaboration between herself and Jack Thorne - who previously adapted Let The Right One In for the theater and won a Bafta for his work on This is England '88 - and John Tiffany, who's set to direct the play.

The play was first announced in December 2013, after the author said she had "received countless approaches" over the years "about adapting Harry Potter into a theatrical production".

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