My Neighbour Totoro
dazzling staging of the Studio Ghibli classic...The Royal Shakespeare Company's production has astonishing puppetry, magical music and huge emotional impact
The Guardian
Why see My Neighbour Totoro?
Returning To The West End Stage
Winner 2023 Olivier Awards - Best Entertainment or Comedy Play, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Design, Best Set Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Director!
The Royal Shakespeare Company and Joe Hishaishi's multi-Olivier Award-winning My Neighbour Totoro is returning to the West End stage in March 2025! Combining the Ghibli joy, Hishaishi's glorious score, puppetry and more than a little bit of magic, this spectacular show is adapted from Hayao Miyazaki's film by playwright Tom Morton-Smith, with puppets from Basil Twist and direction from triple Oliver award winner Phelim McDermott.
What Is The Story?
A love letter to the power of childhood imagination, sisters Mei and Satsuki are spending the summer in the countryside to be closer to their mother who is recuperating after a big illness. As the days go by, the girls explore their new surroundings, where they stumble across the spirit of the forest, a huge, silent furry creature they name 'Totoro'. Providing the girls with a distraction from their mother's illness, the girls are soon whisked away on the adventure of a lifetime!
Sure to be a massive draw for both children and adults, make sure you note this one down in your diary!
Please note: We suggest age 6+, but younger guests are welcome. The show will be quite long (running time TBC), quite loud in parts and possibly scary for some younger children at moments. Children need to occupy their own seats at all times throughout the performance. This production is not suitable for children under 4 years of age (including babes in arms).
Key Information
Audience
Age 6+
Run Time
Two hours and 40 minutes including interval
Dates
Opens 8 Mar
Upcoming Performances
Cast
- Victoria Chen as Mei
- Ami Okumura Jones as Satsuki
- Dai Tabuchi as Tatsuo
- Jacqueline Tate as Granny
- Ai Ninomiya as the Singer
- Phyllis Ho as Yasuko
- Steven Nguyen as Kanta
- Jamie Zubairi as Hiroshi
- Deanna Myers as Tsukiko
Further cast
Matthew Leonhart, Heather Lai, Shaofan Wilson and Anna Kato, who will be joined by new members Rachel Clare Chan, Sally Cheng, Sabrina Pui Yee Chin, Victor Itang, Gabriel S Janoras, Ronnie Lee, Kumiko Mendl, Annakanako Mohri, Richard Peralta, Lucy Park, and Chloe Ragrag.
Creative
- Directed by Phelim McDermott
- Executive Producer Joe Hisaishi
- Music from Hisaishi
- Production Design by Tom Pye
- Costume Design by Kimie Nakano
- Lighting Design by Jessica Hung Han Yun
- Movement by You-Ri Yamanaka
- Puppetry design and Direction by Basil Twist
- Orchestration by Will Stuart
- Sound Design by Tony Gayle
- Video Design is by Finn Ross and Andrea Scott
Awards
2023 Olivier Awards, Wins
Best Entertainment or Comedy Play
Best Costume Design
Best Sound Design
Best Set Design
Best Lighting Design
Best Director
Reviews
Customer reviews
4 reviews, average rating: (5.0 Stars)
Yuki Ortega Yamamoto
Magical ... Pure and simply delivered quality "magic"
The superb and original staging of the show was topped by sweet and engaging acting, wonderful singing and music performance... That transported the audience back to their childhood... Like a time bomb where you get to be 5-6 years old again... What a show! Please bring it back next year!!! I must bring my mum (she's Japanese)!! ... Read more
Nick N.
A Magical Experience
My Neighbour Totoro has phenomenal music, staging and acting, as well as top notch puppeteering, and has easily become my favourite play to date. But what makes it special is not any of the above, nor even the fact that it captures the soul and essence of the Ghibli movie. What made this play memorable for me, was the fact it made me forget the everyday life and transported me back to my childhood days. Suddenly, I was 6 again, staying with my grandparents for the summer and spending my days fooling around with my cousin and pretending to fight imaginary monsters. For the few hours in which it lasted i was a kid having fun and i felt transported to the past, experiencing a time when both of my grandparents were alive and I was under their care. I cannot thank this play enough for giving me that feeling and helping me recall those magical moments. ... Read more
Michael Austin
Charming stage adaptation of Ghibli classic Totoro
Based on the 1988 Studio Ghibli classic My Neighbour Totoro, the Royal Shakespeare Company beautifully brings the animated film to life in this charmingly portrayed stage adaptation.
Set in 1958 rural Japan, this production follows young sisters Mei and Satsuki as they intergrate into their new home with their father Tatsuo, meeting the local villagers, going to school, and eventually meeting the huge cuddly forest spirit Totoro who helps the girls when they need it most with their mother in hospital.
The sets in this stage production are wonderfully created in their simplicity and coordination, and the acting and choreography is no less than anything you would expect from the RSC. The whole atmosphere of this entire play would be impossible without the amazing music and calming singing coming from high up within the tree canopy.
You are guaranteed to laugh, smile, and even perhaps shed a tear at times in this magical portrayal that is a must-see this winter. ... Read more
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