Studio Ghibli's much-loved 1988 classic My Neighbor Totoro will soon make its way to the British stage courtesy of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Scheduled for a debut on October 8, the play will run for a 15-week season until January 21 at London's Barbican Centre, and is produced in collaboration with the British theater company Improbable and Nippon TV. Playwright Tom Morton-Smith, whose previous works include the 2015 play Oppenheimer, about the life of atomic bomb physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, penned the adaptation of the film, and Improbable co-founder Phelim McDermott will serve as director. Legendary maestro Joe Hisaishi, responsible for the music in the original movie and other Studio Ghibli productions like Spirited Away, will act as an executive producer. A promotional video released by the Royal Shakespeare Company showcases the creative process behind the adaption, which will use puppetry to depict the titular giant forest spirit.
"That Totoro, people know that image, his proportions, his expressions, they know it," said Basil Twist, the puppeteer responsible for bringing Totoro to life, as well as the mind behind the puppets in Broadway's Beauty & The Beast and The Addams Family Musical. "So it has to be right."
Hisashi approved of the enthusiasm that the Royal Shakespeare Company had applied to the project, calling the team "all creative and committed" and praising McDermott as a "wonderful director [who] loves Totoro."
Aside from Hisashi, other East Asian voices on the production team helping to capture the nuance of My Neighbor Totoro's 1950s Japanese setting include costume designer Kimie Nakano, lighting designer Jessica Hung Han Yun and movement planner You-ri Yamanaka. In an interview with Deadline, McDermott said it was vital to have their assistance on the play, which will feature an ensemble cast composed of actors of East and Southeast Asian heritage.
"I’m not from that culture (Japanese) and there are things in the piece I don’t understand about," McDermott said. "It’s absolutely essential to have those voices in the room."
Hayao Miyazaki, director of the original film and the mind behind many of Studio Ghibli's projects, has also given the production his blessing and met with Morton-Smith in person -- even asking the playwright if he was a feminist. "I said ‘yes’ and that was very important to him and that the girls are central," Morton-Smith said.
My Neighbor Totoro stars two sisters named Satsuki and Mei who befriend Totoro and a variety of other forest spirits as they adjust to a new life in a rural village in postwar Japan. Tying together themes of environmentalism and Shinto animism, the film subtly tells the tale of the girls slowly growing up, and is widely considered to be one of the finest animated movies ever made.
Source: Royal Shakespeare Company, Deadline