A stage adaptation of the Oscar-winning Japanese anime movie "Spirited Away" that premiered in Tokyo in 2022 has become popular with audiences in London since its sold-out opening at a major theater in the British capital earlier this month.
Featuring members of the Japan production's cast performing in Japanese with English subtitles, the play runs until Aug. 24 at the London Coliseum, the West End's largest theater which seats roughly 2,400. The show's original limited run was extended by five weeks due to popular demand.
Based on anime giant Hayao Miyazaki's beloved 2001 film, produced at Studio Ghibli in Tokyo, the three-hour play tells the story of a young girl named Chihiro who stumbles into a fantastical spirit world with her parents while the family is on the way to a new house.
After a powerful sorceress named Yubaba turns her parents into pigs, Chihiro must use her wits to survive. She works at a magical bathhouse while searching for a way to free her parents -- and herself -- from Yubaba's spell.
Tickets for upcoming performances are selling well, according to the theater's website, with reviews from British publications such as The Guardian describing the show as a "lavishly imaginative theatrical feast" and The Independent calling it "three hours of constant, unpredictable spectacle."
British viewers Billy Clarke-Smee, 22, and Max Ellis, 22, who attended the show last week, said they were impressed by the "breathtaking" visuals and puppetry.
"The show took scenes from the movie and exploded them into something even more detailed," Clarke-Smee said. "It has a distinctly Japanese charm and appeal."
Ellis said, "I think the stage production is a better way to view and understand the story."
Dylan Jones, 39, who came all the way from West Wales to see the show, said, "I was drawn into a world full of excitement, but also loneliness. The stage version is even better than the film."
The play follows in the footsteps of the hit "My Neighbour Totoro" stage play, another Miyazaki film adaptation produced locally. The stage version of the 1988 anime, put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company, is set to return to a theater in the British capital next year.
A British female director from the audience said, "'Spirited Away' is more faithful to its source material than 'Totoro' in some ways. There was a high level of acting -- in particular, the character of Chihiro seemed completely childlike."
As in the Japanese production, the role of Chihiro is shared by actresses Kanna Hashimoto, 25, and Mone Kamishiraishi, 26. Veteran artist Mari Natsuki, 72, who voiced Yubaba in the movie as well as playing the sorceress on stage in Japan, is also reprising her role in London.
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