Subject: JK Rowling announces Harry Potter stage show

The early years of wizard Harry Potter will be explored in a new stage play, to be co-produced by author JK Rowling, it has been announced.

Rowling will work with producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender, though she will not write the script herself.

The author said she had "received countless approaches" over the years "about turning Harry Potter into a theatrical production".

"Sonia and Colin's vision was the only one that really made sense to me."

Their "vision", she continued, "had the sensitivity, intensity and intimacy I thought appropriate for bringing Harry's story to the stage".

"After a year in gestation it is exciting to see this project moving on to the next phase."

The play will be staged in the UK and will explore "the previously untold story of Harry's early years as an orphan and outcast", according to its producers.

"Featuring some of our favourite characters from the Harry Potter books, this new work will offer a unique insight into the heart and mind of the now legendary young wizard.

"Writers and directors are now being considered, and the project will move into development in 2014."

Rowling's seven Harry Potter best-sellers were adapted into eight blockbuster films starring Daniel Radcliffe in the title role.

Earlier this year the author revealed she would be making her screenwriting debut on a new Potter-themed film series for the Warner Bros studio.

Friedman is behind a string of successful West End productions, among them The Book of Mormon, Merrily We Roll Along and the Twelfth Night and Richard III double bill starring Mark Rylance.

Callender, a former president of HBO Films, recently produced Lucky Guy on Broadway starring Tom Hanks and is currently working with the BBC on its adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall.