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Jim Henson's Creature Shop Creating Life-Sized Totoro for London Play

The Deadline website reports that Jim Henson's Creature Shop will be supplying live-size puppets for the the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)'s upcoming stage adaptation of Studio Ghibli's and Hayao Miyazaki's 1988 film My Neighbor Totoro at London's Barbican Centre.

The company was founded by the late puppet legend Jim Henson. Henson and his company created the characters for The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Dinosaurs and many other titles.

Deadline describes the My Neighbor Totoro play as the RSC's most ambitious production to date, and says the play "now has creatives working on it at bases in London, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Los Angeles and Tokyo."

Jim Henson's Creature Shop is paying particular attention to the Totoro and the cat bus. The play's director Phelim McDermott refused to say how the cat bus would fly, saying "It's theatre magic."

The Creature Shop puppets are based on designs by the puppeteer Basil Twist, with additional puppets created by Mervyn Millar.

Peter Brooke, creative supervisor of Jim Henson's Creature Shop, commented, “We know all too well the importance of maintaining the visual style and personality of beloved characters. Whether an audience member is a long-time fan of this iconic story, or new to Miyazaki's fantastical world, they will be simply amazed when they see these magical creatures live on stage in a whole new way in My Neighbor Totoro.”

Deadline also reports that there is "chatter" about the possibility of the play transferring to London's West End after the Barbican run, although the site says that theatres big enough to take the play are already spoken for.

Tickets are available at this link. The play will have a 15-week run from October 8, 2022 to January 21, 2023.

The play is presented by the RSC and Hayao Miyazaki's longtime composer Joe Hisaishi, who created the music for the original film and serves as the play's executive producer.

Tom Morton-Smith (Oppenheimer) is adapting the story, and Phelim McDermott (Akhnaten) directs the production. The play is made in collaboration with the English theatre company Improbable and Japan's Nippon TV.

There is information about the tickets here. Ticket prices will be from £20 to £72.50, with a limited number of premium seats from £85. Prices are guaranteed until May 19, but may vary after that. There are also other offers, including a "Family rate" deal offering up to two half-price tickets with every full-paying adult, not valid for performances on Saturday evenings.

The evening performances will be at 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday. There will also be matinee performances from Thursday October 20, on Thursdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m, and additional matinees on 19, 21, 23, 27 December and on 2 January.

There will be no matinee on 22 December; no evening performances on 31 December and 2 January; and no performances on 24 and 26 December

Morton-Smith said that he had permission "to expand on the beats (in the film) that are already there and show some scenes that aren't in the film.”

Full rehearsals for the play start in July. The RSC describes the production on its website:

The global premiere of Studio Ghibli's My Neighbor Totoro comes to London's Barbican stage this autumn.

"The celebrated 1988 animated feature film by Hayao Miyazaki will be brought to the stage by its original composer Joe Hisaishi in a landmark new adaption by the RSC written by playwright Tom Morton-Smith.

"This enchanting coming-of-age story explores the magical fantasy world of childhood and the transformative power of imagination, as it follows one extraordinary summer in the lives of sisters Satsuki and Mei.

"My Neighbor Totoro will play a strictly limited 15-week season from 8 October 2022 - 21 January 2023 and promises to delight all generations.

The original anime film My Neighbor Totoro is the story of two young sisters, Mei and Satsuki, who move to the countryside and encounter Totoro, wonderful creatures which only children can see.