Studio Ghibli, the renowned Japanese animation studio co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, has captivated audiences worldwide with its visually stunning and thematically rich films. In recent years, they have decided to take some of these stories to the stage.
Following the success of the adaptation of My Neighbour Totoro at the Barbican, the Japanese-language stage adaptation of Spirited Away (Studio Ghibli’s Academy Award-winning animated film) opened at the London Coliseum with English surtitles (translation above a stage). Previously, the opening run of the stage adaptation sold out in Tokyo in just four minutes. This marks the play’s first international tour, introducing Ghibli’s iconic narratives to global theatre audiences.
In Spirited Away, a young girl named Chihiro stumbles into the spirit realm when her parents are turned into pigs. Guided by the enigmatic Haku, Chihiro must work at the spirit bathhouse run by the formidable witch Yubaba to rescue her parents.
