RSC, composer Joe Hisaishi join forces for the play "Totoro".

RSC, composer Joe Hisaishi join forces for the play "Totoro".

As Toho's adaptation of Spirited Away continues its Japanese tour (streaming on Hulu in July), the esteemed British Royal Shakespeare Company has announced a partnership with the honorable composer (and longtime Hayao Miyazaki collaborator) Joe Hisaishi to create a stage version of the feature director's beloved 1988 animated film, My Neighbor Totoro.

Hisaishi will executive produce the show with RSC in collaboration with Studio Ghibli, in collaboration with the theater company Improbably and Nippon TV.

The production will be directed by Phelim McDermott (Artistic Co-Director of Improbable), adapted by Tom Morton-Smith, with Tom Pye as production designer and puppets for award-winning New York puppeteer Basil Twist (Broadway's Beauty and the Beast and The Addams Family Musical. ).

The creative team also includes costume designer Kimie Nakano, lighting designer Jessica Hung Han Yun and movement director You-Ri Yamanaka.

While McDermott told Deadline that the show will be a musical, the production will feature a live band on stage and "there may be a good voice during some scenes, like in the movie." The ensemble's cast will consist of artists of Japanese, EASH, and Southeast Asian descent (McDermott notes that due to the physical requirements and the puppets involved, Satsuki and Mei will likely not be played by child actors).

The director also stressed that the production will reflect history's respect for nature by using environmentally friendly materials in the puppets, which should meet with firm approval from environmentalist Miyazaki.

British playwright Morton-Smith, who traveled to Japan to meet Miyazaki in preparation, revealed that the Oscar-winning animation legend asked if she was a feminist: “I said 'yes' and that was very important to him and that girls are central. "

My Neighbor Totoro is set in 50s Japan and follows sisters Satsuki and Mei as they move with their father to a new home in the countryside and soon discover a secret world of supernatural creatures that only children can see. They befriend the gentle forest troll Totoro, who watches over them and guides them on incredible adventures (with the help of the iconic Cat Bus).

Or, as the RSC teaser trailer describes it: "An enchanting coming-of-age story about the transformative power of the imagination and the inspiring splendor of the natural world."

Rehearsals for the ambitious production will begin in July. RSC's My Neighbor Totoro is expected to open at London's Barbican Center on October 8 and will run until January 21, 2023.

rsc.org.uk

My Neighbor Totoro stage show art

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