https://www.tohostage.com/spirited_away/schedule.html

Press conference report
The first ever stage adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece SPIRITED AWAY

Animated feature film SPIRITED AWAY, director Hayao Miyazaki’s timeless masterpiece, became a blockbuster right after its release in 2001. The heroine, a 10-year-old girl, Chihiro, gets lost in a realm of gods and spirits after going through a tunnel on a drive with her parents to their new home. The story follows her as she survives and build resilience to find her way to return to the human world. In 2003, the film won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was released in China for the first time in 2019 and caused a sensation. It has continued to be one of the most beloved animated movies of all time around the world.

This celebrated animation feature is now bound to have its world premiere as a live stage performance. The theatrical production SPIRITED AWAY (original title: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) will be presented at the Imperial Theatre (Marunouchi, Tokyo) from March 2nd to 29th, 2022.

The highly anticipated stage adaptation will be written and directed by John Caird. Caird, Honorary Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, had adapted and directed the world premiere of the monumental musical Les Misérables. The heroine, Chihiro, will be double-cast with Kanna Hashimoto, who has gained critical acclaim for her many appearances in films/TV dramas and will be making her theatrical debut, and Mone Kamishiraishi, who has starred in multiple TV dramas, films, theatre pieces and is recognized as a brilliant singer/voice actor as well. The one-and-only character actor, Mari Natsuki, who voiced the sorceress Yubaba who ruled the bathhouse and her twin sister Zeniba in the original film, will double-cast the same roles with the voice actor, Romi Park. A star-studded cast has lined up to celebrate Toho’s 90th anniversary coming up in 2022.

A press conference for this extraordinary production was held on November 9^th in Tokyo. All of the principal cast members including Kanna Hashimoto, Mone Kamishiraishi and Mari Natsuki, and John Caird (adaptation/direction), Maoko Imai (co-adaptation/supporting director) attended the conference with Studio Ghibli’s Toshio Suzuki, producer of the original film SPIRITED AWAY. Each of them talked about their anticipation towards the new stage production.

The conference opened with the presentation of the two posters which each features Hashimoto or Kamishiraish as Chihiro. The attendees applauded at the two distinct visuals of the posters. The exhilaration of the two actors heightened as they saw the posters for the first time themselves.

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Suzuki said it was “very touching” that the stage adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s classic is happening two decades after the initial release. He also shared an anecdote of Hayao Miyazaki meeting Caird for the first time, “They just clicked right away, and Miyazaki immediately said ‘okay’ to the idea of the stage adaptation.” He also added that it had come from Miyazaki’s thoughts on SPIRITED AWAY being “so widely beloved that it has become everyone’s piece, not just his.” Caird, who is a great admirer of Ghibli films, was surprised at Miyazaki’s prompt decision, even though he believed the story of SPIRITED AWAY was very theatrical, and he always felt it could be a stage production. He continued that Miyazaki’s stories have an amazing emotional and intellectual integrity, that his talent to get inside the mind of children “makes him equal with some of the great storytellers like Charles Dickens, Hans Christian Andersen, Lewis Carol. I think he will go down in history as one of the greatest storytellers.” He revealed that Miyazaki had told him to “have fun.” Caird referred to the vivid cast members and said, “I can guarantee you we’re going to have fun.” A torch has been passed from the original creator to a fan who has promised to let the work bloom on a new stage.

Caird has already been working on the play in London and in Tokyo through three workshops with the creatives including Brad Haak (Knights’ Tale) on music supervision/ arrangement/orchestrations, Jon Bausor (London Paralympics Opening Ceremony in 2012) on set design, Toby Olié (puppeteer/associate puppetry director for Olivier Award/Tony Award winning War Horse) on puppetry design and direction, and Shigehiro Ide on choreography.

Comments from the cast members:

-Tsujimoto showed an improvisational dance inspired by the character at the press conference. After seeing his dance, Caird said, “I didn’t know how we’re going to do it (to show No Face on stage) until now. Now I know how to do it.”

The press conference ended with a question to Caird about how he is going to make No Face happen on stage. The audience broke into laughter when John answered, “do you really think I am going to tell you?” There was a vibrant energy throughout the conference. It has raised the excitement and expectations for the stage production of SPIRITED AWAY.