Victoria Chen will join Ami Okumura Jones, Dai Tabuchi, Jacqueline Tate and Ai Ninomiya among the cast of Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro, when it begins its West End transfer at the Gillian Lynne Theatre this March.
Chen joins the company to play the role of Mei, while returning to their roles are Okumura Jones as Mei’s older sister Satsuki, Tabuchi as Tatsuo, Tate as Granny and Ninomiya as the Singer.
The show’s unique Kazego Puppetry Ensemble will once again include Matthew Leonhart, Heather Lai, Shaofan Wilson (Miss Hara) 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 (Nurse Emiko), Annakanako Mohri, Richard Peralta, Lucy Park and Chloe Ragrag.
Phyllis Ho (Yasuko), Steven Nguyen (Kanta), Jamie Zubairi (Hiroshi) and Deanna Myers (Tsukiko) complete the cast.
Satsuki and Mei’s mother has taken ill. In order to be closer to her while she recovers in a rural convalescent hospital, their father moves the two sisters from their home in a city to the countryside. And though the countryside is beautiful and the people friendly, it’s hard not to be scared when the wind rustles the trees at night. As the sisters explore their new surroundings, young Mei encounters magical creatures and the ancient protector of the forest she calls “Totoro” – and they are to be the girls’ neighbours.
Although Satsuki doesn’t believe her little sister at first, they are soon both swept up in exciting adventures with their new neighbours – transported to a long-forgotten realm of spirits, sprites, and natural wonder.
Adapted by Tom Morton-Smith (Oppenheimer) from Hayao Miyazaki’s celebrated 1988 animated feature film, the production is directed by Improbable co-founder Phelim McDermott.
My Neighbour Totoro broke the Barbican’s Box Office record for most tickets sold in a single day in April 2022, ahead of its global premiere in October 2022. Following both critical and audience acclaim, the production returned to the Barbican Centre for a strictly limited run in Autumn 2023. The production closed at the Barbican Centre in March 2024.
The production comes from executive producer Joe Hisaishi and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), in collaboration with Nippon TV and Improbable.
My Neighbour Totoro also features production design by Tom Pye, puppetry design and direction by Basil Twist, costume design by Kimie Nakano, lighting design by Jessica Hung Han Yun, and movement by You-Ri Yamanaka. The production features music from Joe Hisaishi’s iconic score in a new orchestration by Will Stuart, performed live with sound design by Tony Gayle. Video design is by Finn Ross and Andrea Scott, the dramaturg is Pippa Hill, casting director is Hannah Miller and sound effects & soundscape designer is Nicola T Chang.
Artwork for the stage adaptation of My Neighbour Totoro includes a hand drawn title by Toshio Suzuki, producer for Studio Ghibli, who was involved in the planning and production of the original animated film.
The production will run from Saturday, March 8 to Sunday, November 2. Tickets: totoroshow.com
