Katie Leung, who fulfilled many a young girl’s fantasy by playing Harry Potter’s girlfriend Cho Chang on film, will star in the stage adaptation of multi-million selling book Wild Swans.
The Scottish actress, who beat more than 3,000 auditionees without the use of magic to claim the much sought after role in the Harry Potter franchise, will take to the stage to play the role based on Wild Swans’ author Jung Chang in the story of one courageous family living through a changing China in the 20th century.
Speaking about the casting, Leung commented: “It is a great honour to be involved in such an extraordinary project and especially to be playing the role based on Jung Chang. I look forward to performing this truly inspirational story on stage.”
Wild Swans, which runs from 13 April to 13 May at the Young Vic, is staged as part of World Stages London, an event bringing together eight London venues with 12 co-producing companies to create a season of work reflecting London’s dynamic cultural communities.
Casting has also been announced for two other Young Vic shows, Bingo and The Changeling.
Joining theatrical knight Patrick Stewart and Richard McCabe in Edward Bond’s Shakespearean tale Bingo is London regular Matthew Marsh (No Naughty Bits, Glengarry Glen Ross).
While Bingo is led by a cast of huge experience, The Changeling stars some of London’s hottest new talent, including Earthquakes In London and Rocket To The Moon star Jessica Raine, The Inbetweeners’ Henry Lloyd Hughes – also seen opposite Raine in Punk Rock at the Lyric Hammersmith – Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Joe Turner’s Come And Gone, A Respectable Wedding and Seize The Day), and Daniel Cerqueira, soon to be seen in both the big screen adaptation of The Woman In Black and the small screen version of Birdsong.
Prior to this trio of tempting shows opening in the new year, the Young Vic continues to host the hugely popular Michael Sheen-led production of Hamlet, which is currently playing to packed houses at the Waterloo venue, night after night.
MA