Spirited Away

Yesterday, I managed to attend to the ever so popular, often sold-out Studio Ghibli theatrical production of Spirited Away, which is currently running for a limited time only in the West End, at the London Coliseum from 30th April to 24th August.

Based on the 2001 film of the same name, the show is about a girl named Chihiro, also known as Sen (played by Kanna Hashimoto/Mone Kamishiraishi/Rina Kawaei/Momoko Fukuchi), who is moving into a new town with her parents. Upon entering a mysterious tunnel, her parents are trapped in a strange new world - what's worse, by consuming the food in a  restaurant, they become extremely greedy and turn into pigs through excessive consumption.

Horrified by the encounter, Chihiro then tries to find assistance to no-avail, until a boy suddenly appears named Haku (played by Kotaro Daigo/Hiroki Miura/Atsuki Mashiko), who then tells Chihiro to into a nearby town and find employment at the local bath-house to save herself and her parents. Since she’s considered a stranger in their world, she would simply vanish as humans are very much not welcomed in their society.

The play was re-adapted for the stage by the renowned stage director of Les Miserables, John Caird, with an all-Japanese cast alongside original music from Joe Hisaishi. The show also hosts notable Japanese entertainment celebrities such as Rina Kawaei, formerly of AKB48, Hodaka Morishima’s voice actor from Weathering with You (2019) Kotaro Daigo, this performance certainly makes it one of a kind, setting a high bar indeed, one which exceeded my expectations of what a typical West End performance should be.

I was thoroughly amazed and impressed at how innovative the design of the stage set, it honestly made me feel as if I was watching a live action Japanese adaptation of the anime, tod in real-time, especially with the constant changes of the set designs throughout the performance.

The actors and actresses for the performance were outstanding, especially the roles of Zeniba and Yubaba (played by Mari Natsuki/Romi Park/Hitomi Harukaze). The costume designs and performances were absolutely accurate to the original anime. Special mention goes to the hilarious moments from No-Face/Kaonashi (played by Hikaru Yamano) whose movement and acting stole every scene he was in.

This has seriously been one of my most memorable experiences and Spirited away has become one of my all time favourite theatre productions (minus the pricing), and I wholeheartedly recommend you visit the show while you can, much like the mysterious characters Chihiro meets, it won't be around forever.