Harry Potter read-a-thon begins in aid of theatre

Bookworms will read every Harry Potter novel – or more than one million words over 120 hours – to help a theatre keep “heads above water” and “the doors open”.

The Great Harry Potter marathon will see more than 70 people read each book in J.K Rowling’s famous series to raise £10,000 for The Fisher Theatre, in Bungay, Suffolk.

The volunteers will collectively delve into the wizarding world for five hours a day, six days a week, for four weeks, digesting 3,407 pages of literature.

Organiser Terry Reeve, the Reeve of Bungay, decided on Harry Potter as the chosen series for the fundraiser as some of the early editions were printed in the town.

He said: “All theatres of this size struggle to remain viable financially so I thought ‘how we can raise money?’

“I thought about reading the complete works of Shakespeare or the Bible from cover to cover but then I thought ‘let’s read all Harry Potter novels out loud’.

“It’s a really lovely theatre and it’s a huge asset to Bungay - we get good audiences here, but theatres need the money for overheads and everything else.

“[The money raised] will be really vital to keep heads above water.”

Joe Edwards is a Harry Potter fan who was tasked with kick-starting the read-a-thon with the opening extracts of the Philosopher's Stone.

He said: “It’s an honour. The first book was released the same year I started high school, so I embarked on my high school journey at the same time as Harry.

“It was one of the things that got me into reading in general and for a lot of people my age it was a gateway to the world of literature and escapism.

“Anything that can get young people reading is absolutely fantastic. I remember dreaming about being at Hogwarts and riding dragons.

“It would be such a loss to the town if this theatre couldn’t carry on so it’s great to help raise vitally needed money just to keep the doors open.”

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