A STAR of the hit film Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets has been drafted in to appear at the Bermuda Festival next month.

Gemma Jones, who played Madam Pomfrey in the blockbuster movie about the young English wizard, will star in The English Chamber Theatre's production of If I Should Die at the City Hall Theatre on February 3 and 4.

Ms Jones replaces original cast member Jane Asher, who had to withdraw from the Festival after being contracted to play the lead for a year in the UK television soap opera Crossroads.

Ms Jones was also seen on Bermuda cinema screens in Bridget Jones's Diary, in which she played Bridget Jones' mother.

With a whole host of West End play appearances under belt and many years of experience with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, Ms Jones brings an impressive acting pedigree to the festival.

She will share the stage with Ed Stoppard, son of the famous playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, who appeared in Roman Polanski's acclaimed movie The Pianist and Udi Eidel's The Little Vampire.

Also in the production will be concert pianist Marcus Andrews.

Geoffrey Moore, chairman of the Bermuda Festival, said: "This is a superb cast delivering a beautiful, thought-provoking production and we are confident patrons will be as delighted as we are with these highly acclaimed performers."

If I Should Die tells the story of poet Rupert Brooke through the eyes of a woman who knew him from his early days at Rugby through his heady days at Cambridge, love affairs and travels to North America, Europe and the Pacific.

To buy tickets for this or any other Bermuda Festival production, log on to www.bermudafestival.com, go to the festival box office next to the ferry terminal on Front Street between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday to Saturday.

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