Rickman and Melling to star in upcoming theatre productions

Two Harry Potter stars, Alan Rickman and Harry Melling, will be taking to the stage in different theater productions in the near future.

Rickman, who portrayed Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series, will star in The Flea Theater’s premiere of “Krapp Hour,” in their 2012-13 Off-Broadway season. “Krapp Hour” is an adaptation of Samuel Beckett’s “Krapp’s Last Tape,” by Canadian poet Anne Carson.

The play will premiere late August under the artistic direction of Jim Simpson with producing director Carol Ostrow. Rickman will star as the title character in this one-man show.

The production is part of the Virtual Theater Collaborative, a partnering of video game technology and professional theatre productions to create a new medium for the performing arts, according to Playbill.com. Rickman’s live performance will be adapted for use in a video game.

No further dates have been announced for “Krapp Hour.” Rickman’s “Seminar” co-star Hamish Linklater is also scheduled for the Flea’s 2013 season.

Melling, who portrayed Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter series, will play Christopher Isherwood in “I am a Camera,” a play that will run in a three-week season at The Vault at Southwark Playhouse, from Wednesday, Sept. 5- Saturday, Sept. 22.

The play, written by John Van Druten, is based on Isherwood’s memoirs “Goodbye to Berlin, “and is directed by Anthony Lau. It is “part glamourous whirlwind of Berlin Bohemia, part harrowing depiction of the Nazi’s rise to power,” according to the press release. The play inspired the musical “Cabaret.”

Tickets to “I am a Camera” start at 9 GBP, and will get more expensive as the performance dates near.