Studio Ghibli is a major inspiration for my work, it has always been present in my media consumption, with Kiki’s Delivery Service being my favourite. I love to collect the DVDs and gather certain merchandise pieces so that my day to day can be infused with the joy and memories of the studio ghibli stories.

[Before I get into the raving positive review I would like to get my singular critisicm out of the way, which is the price of the souveniers. A small plush toy of the junior forest spirits, the size of the palm of your hand, was £30 which is absolutely ridiculous. Basically the same toy as this one on amazon for only £10.

The pin badges were I think £10 which a more expected mark-up although still too expensive, especially beacuse the designs weren’t that nice. The tops were again, not extortionate but not that pretty. it was mainly the plush toys and prints that were a terrible price. I really wanted one, but couldn’t justify it.]

A couple of years ago I took my partner to see Spirited Away in London so that they could fall more in love with Studio Ghibli with me (it worked a little bit) and this year my partner took me to see My Neighbour Totoro. I suffer from a terrible memory so while I know I adored the Spirited Away production, I don’t remember much of it. which is why this time I took my sketchbook and sketched the things I loved most so that I won’t forget them. Those pages are mainly for me, and I encourage everyone to write down and sketch things they hope to remember- it makes it so much more intimate to look back on those things, seeing how you chose to express it at the time.

Even though I’m not going to share my sketches, I will still tell you about all the amazing things the production of My Neighbour Totoro has to offer- it was truly magical!

When you sit down in your seat you rarely get to see the stage, it’s usually hidden by a large curtain. For this show there was a title card, similar to how it is in the film, at first I thought this was a projection or a screen but soon I realised that the text for ‘Totoro’ was real. By real I mean it was cut outs of felt or some other fabric which was moveable by stage hands behind the curtain (or was it anamatronic?.

There was a live singer who performed throughout the show, along with treehouse type platforms at either side of the stage and at the back of it, for the orchestra- who played live music throughout.

The musicians opened the show and while the song played, more ensemble puppiteers operated bug/insect characters crawling across the title card.

It was a similar magic to when people poke their head around a door and go up further than you think their neck could reach, or like walking behind a table making it look like you’e going down stairs.

It didn’t seem possible for the creepy crawlees to move across the whole front on the stage, all the way to the top. There must have been people on ropes becasue you couldn’t have gotten rid of scaffolding that quickly I don’t think. This was jsut the first instance of this kind of technical genuis that comes across as magic to the unknowing. Which I found incredible since I usualy do know the technical how behind theatre shows. But I’ve clearly been away too long!

The show’s openening sequence is similar to the film (if I remember correctly) the family are in their little truck which is packed to bursting and the Father denies being lost. This was a lovely opening and was staged in such a way the not much of the stage was revealed yet. It also set the tone of the show as being much more comedic and family friendly than Spirited Away. Not that Spirited Away coulnd’t be a family event, but maybe it was deemed as more spooky than Totoro for young audiences.

I think I said the word ‘Incredible’ or variations upon, about 10 times during the performance. Because it was truly incredible how creative the people involved had been to translate this film to the stage.

One particular tool that stood out to me as particularly fantastic- and I believe will stay with me for years to come- was the way props were used to symoblise changing scenes. Specifically how an entire rice farming field was brought to the stage. Ensemble cast members entered from the stage wings walking backwards, in a rythmic step they dragged under their feet a mat of grass (it was rice growing but grass is a way to describe it visually)

I unfortunately cannot find a photo of this specific moment online, however there are photos of the times when they used variations of it.

It was an incredibly creative and effective technique that just immediately transported to the rice farms that I remember from the movie and admire in general. As pictured above, these props were also moved using sticks and arranged in a circle to signify the edge of a pond in which they search for Mae. It was just brilliant- my favourite moment(s) of the show maybe haha- moreso than Totoro?!

Just look at that beautiful colour changing cirlce backdrop too- Gorgeous!

I mentioned Totoro just then, and of course he's the star of the show- the magnificent forest spirit. I can only imagine the hours of trail and error, and troubleshooting that went into bringing to life this curious Mouse/Bear creature.

So many scenes that demanded different impossible magical things from the character. I’d be intrested to know how long producers/designers considered having a performer in a suit to depict Totoro before returning/landing on puppetry.

I adore puppetry and will always support it’s use in performance- similarly to practical effects in films.

So to see the feat of engineering, creatiivity and design that went into the Totoro puppet used in the play was absolutely breathtaking.

I’m sure I speak for many adults in the audience when I say I was positively giddy with excitement to see Totoro walk from the shadows of upstage down to the audience. It felt like the forest spirit had truly been brought to life.

As is to be expected of such an intricate and large puppet, there are lots of moving parts, and therefore lots of things that can go wrong. Unfortunately for the performance that I went to see, a minute or two into Totoro’s first scene (pictured above) the puppet malfunctioned and the play had to take a break while it was fixed.

I was not bothered by this at all, I have full sympathy for the team involved, and it didn’t affect my viewing experience whatsoever. I was just as immersed in the story when the play was able to resume.

Aside from the technical magic of the puppet (inflatable? Human operated? Combination?) The most striking thing about Totoro in this first meeting is his size. Which raises the question- how does he appear in other scenes if he’s filling up the whole stage?

The answer of course being more puppets! YAY.

Totoros of varying sizes and materials. There were smallet inflatable puppets, and small plush puppets- similar to the chickens and junior spirits.

The stage itself utilised one of my favourite staging techniques- a rotating centre!

The family’s house was the main set piece that was transformed to apply to other scenes where possible. It also rotated and was deconstructed at times to show how the childere passed through the rooms and explored the attic for example. I love a set that is interactive and transformative. The permenant structures around the stage being forest branches, and the house being the most common set piece was just the perfect way to communicate the story of Totoro and our connection to nature being such a healing and intertwined relationship.