Noma Dumezweni

Noma Dumezweni (born 28 July 1969)[1] is a British actress. In 2006, she won an Olivier Award for her role in A Raisin in the Sun.[2] She starred as Hermione Granger in the original West End and Broadway runs of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which garnered her a second Laurence Olivier Award and a Tony Award nomination.

Noma Dumezweni
Noma Dumezweni in a 2018 Tony Awards video
Born (1969-07-28) 28 July 1969
Swaziland
OccupationActress
Years active2001–present
Children1

Personal life

Born in Swaziland, of South African parents, Dumezweni lived in Botswana, Kenya and Uganda. She arrived in England as a refugee on 17 May 1977 with her sister and mother.[3] She first lived in Felixstowe, Suffolk, where she was educated,[2] before moving to London. She has a daughter, Qeiva, born in 2007.

Career

Dumezweni's work in theatre includes: President of an Empty Room and The Hour We Knew Nothing Of Each Other[4] at the National Theatre, London;[5] Breakfast with Mugabe,[6] Antony and Cleopatra[7] and Much Ado About Nothing[8] for the RSC; A Raisin in the Sun for the Young Vic at the Lyric Hammersmith, London[9] (for which she won her Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role[10]); A Midsummer Night's Dream,[11] The Master and Margarita,[12] Nathan the Wise[13] and The Coffee House at Chichester Festival Theatre, Six Characters in Search of an Author in the Chichester Festival production at the Gielgud Theatre[14][15] and The Bogus Woman[16] at the Traverse and the Bush. In spring of 2009 she appeared in the RSC's The Winter's Tale.[17][18][19] In 2013–2014, she appeared in A Human Being Died That Night at the Fugard Theater in Cape Town, the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, which later transferred to the Hampstead Theatre in London.[20]

She starred in Linda at London's Royal Court Theatre in November 2015, stepping into the role vacated by Kim Cattrall with a few days notice before press night. Awarding the production five stars, the Daily Telegraph's Chief Theatre Critic Dominic Cavendish wrote: "If they can bottle and mass-produce whatever it is that Noma Dumezweni has got then, please, I want to order a life-time’s supply."[21]

In December 2015, it was announced that Dumezweni had been cast as Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.[22] On the announcement, theatre critic Kate Maltby described her as "an actress who consistently engages and enthrals."[23] The casting of the black Dumezweni as Hermione sparked fervent discussion, to which J. K. Rowling responded that Hermione's skin was never specified as white.[24][25] Because of her role she was listed as one of BBC's 100 women during 2018.[26] Dumezweni reprised her role on Broadway at the Lyric Theatre in 2018.[27]

Filmography
YearTitleFormatRoleNotes
2001MacbethTV filmWitch
2002Dirty Pretty ThingsFilmCelia
2003Holby CityTV seriesHannah KeelanEpisode: "The One You Love: Part 2"
2005Silent WitnessTV seriesDS Erin JacobsEpisode: "Ghosts"
The BillTV seriesBuilding Society ManagerEpisode: "403"
2006Mysterious CreaturesTV filmChanelle Pinkerton
Holby CityTV seriesHesta MukakaEpisode: "Fly Me to the Moon"
After ThomasTV filmPaula Murray
2007ShamelessTV seriesMrs. NewmanEpisode: "4.5"
The Grey ManTV filmSergeant
Fallen AngelTV seriesCarlaEpisode: "The Four Last Things"
New TricksTV seriesSophie OyekambiEpisode: "Casualty"
EastEndersTV seriesD.C. WrightEpisode: "17 August 2007"
2008The Last EnemyTV seriesValerieEpisode: "1.1"
The Colour of MagicTV filmMarchessa
FalloutTV filmJoyce Abena
The EscortShort filmMrs. Williams
2008–2009Doctor WhoTV seriesCaptain Erisa Magambo2 episodes
2012CasualtyTV seriesMarsha Chilcot2 episodes
TeethShort filmMrs. Taylor
Magpie Sings the BluesShort filmDr. Marcia Hammond
2013FrankieTV seriesAngie Rascoe6 episodes
2015Midsomer MurdersTV seriesAilsa ProbertEpisode: "Murder by Magic"
CapitalTV seriesGreaves2 episodes
CasualtyTV seriesSusan BlossomEpisode: "Maybe This Year"
Noma: Forgiving ApartheidDocumentaryNoma Dumezweni
2017Philip K. Dick's Electric DreamsTV seriesSenior Agent OkhileEpisode: "The Hood Maker"
2018Black Earth RisingTV seriesAlice Munezero
Mary Poppins ReturnsFilmMiss Penny Farthing
2019The Kid Who Would Be KingFilmMrs. Lee
The Boy Who Harnessed the WindFilmEdith Sikelo
2020Made for LoveTV seriesFiffanyMain cast
Normal PeopleTV seriesGillian1 episode

Radio

In radio, she has appeared in Jambula Tree, Seven Wonders of the Divided World, From Fact to Fiction,[28] From Freedom to the Future, Handprint,[29] Jane's Story,[30] Sagila, Shylock,[31] The Farming of Bones,[32] The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency,[33][34] The Seven Ages of Car, The Bogus Woman[35] and Breakfast with Mugabe.[36]

Audiobooks

She voiced the young adult adventure series Steeplejack by A.J. Hartley which are set in an imaginary world loosely resembling Victorian South Africa.

gollark: No, I mean, it wouldn't say that.
gollark: That's not actually what it would say. You lie.
gollark: `print(getmetatable(_ENV))`
gollark: Waaaaait, is this setmetatabled?
gollark: That's not in the env.

References
  1. Hoggard, Liz (20 December 2015). "Noma Dumezweni: 'I'm starting to believe in the universe right now'". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  2. Fierberg, Ruthie (21 December 2015). "7 Things You Need to Know About London's Newly Announced Hermione Granger". Playbill. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  3. Olivier Awards ceremony 2017
  4. National Theatre : Productions : The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other Archived 17 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Hepple, Peter (1 July 2005). "Reviews: President of an Empty Room". The Stage. Archived from the original on 9 January 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  6. Billington, Michael (15 April 2006). "Breakfast With Mugabe". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  7. Whitehouse, Ben. "Coventry and Warwickshire Stage – Tragedy and humour meet head on at RST". BBC. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  8. Royal Shakespeare Company : Archived releases Archived 2 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Lyric Hammersmith | A Raisin in the Sun Archived 13 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Olivier Awards 2006". Laurence Olivier Awards. 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  11. Sell, Michael (1 June 2004). "Reviews: A Midsummer Night's Dream". The Stage. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  12. Sell, Michael (2 August 2004). "Reviews: The Master and Margarita". The Stage. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  13. Gilchrist, Stephen (2 May 2003). "Nathan the Wise (Chichester)". What's On Stage. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  14. Fisher, Philip (2008). "Review of Six Characters In Search Of An Author, Chichester Festival production". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  15. Taylor, Paul (19 September 2008). "Review of Six Characters In Search Of An Author, Gielgud Theatre, London". The Independent. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  16. Spencer, Charles (13 February 2001). "Out of Africa, into a refugee's nightmare". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  17. Billington, Michael (9 April 2009). "Winter's Tale Courtyard Stratford Review". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  18. "The Winter's Tale, 2009 David Farr Production". Royal Shakespeare Company. April 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  19. David, Peta (14 April 2009). "Reviews: "A Winter's Tale"". The Stage. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014.
  20. Sulcas, Roslyn (6 June 2014). "A Bit of South Africa's Ugly Past Comes to the Stage". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  21. Cavendish, Dominic (2 December 2015). "Linda, Royal Court, review: 'funny, touching, deeply uncomfortable-making'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  22. Tan, Monica (21 December 2015). "Noma Dumezweni cast as Hermione in new Harry Potter stage play". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  23. "There's nothing confusing about a black actress playing Hermione Granger - Spectator Blogs". Spectator Blogs. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  24. Maltby, Kate. "There's nothing confusing about a black actress playing Hermione Granger – Spectator Blogs". Spectator Blogs. Retrieved 23 December 2015. JK Rowling tweeted this morning that she'd never specified Hermione's skin colour in the books.
  25. J. K. Rowling [@jk_rowling] (21 December 2015). "Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 20 January 2016 – via Twitter.
  26. "BBC 100 Women 2018: Who is on the list?". BBC News. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  27. McPhee, Ryan (2 August 2017). "Original Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Trio to Reunite on Broadway; Additional Casting Announced | Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  28. "From Fact to Fiction, Series 2, Episode 1". BBC. 19 May 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  29. "Drama on 3: Handprint". BBC Radio 3. 26 March 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  30. "Jane's Story". RadioListings. 30 June 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  31. "Drama on 3: Shylock". BBC Radio 3. 5 March 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  32. "The Farming of Bones". BBC Radio 4. 7 November 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  33. "Afternoon Drama: No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Series 4, A Very Rude Woman". BBC Radio 4. 3 January 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  34. "Afternoon Drama: No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Series 4, Talking Shoes". BBC Radio 4. 4 January 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  35. "The Bogus Woman". RadioListings. 30 June 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  36. "Drama on 3: Breakfast With Mugabe". BBC Radio 3. 4 June 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
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