News
Cast and Crew Details For 2025 London West End Run of Totoro Play
posted on by Andrew Osmond
The play will be in London's West End at London's Gillian Lynne Theatre, near Holborn and Covent Garden underground stations, from March to November 2025. Tickets can be booked on the play's website, https://totoroshow.com.
The main cast change from the previous run of the play at London's Barbican Centre is that is a new actor will play Mei, the younger sister in the story. The toddler will now be played by the Singaporean actor Victoria Chen, who has previously worked in theatre in Singapore, the UK, America, China, Australia and Iceland. Chen's recent stage credits include the plays The Night Before Christmas and a child-friendly adaptation of As You Like It. Chen will also be a puppeteer.
She replaces the actor Mei Mac, who played Mei when My Neighbor Totoro ran at the Barbican Centre.
The following cast are the same as in the Barbican production: Ami Okumura Jones (Satsuki, Mei's older sister), Dai Tabuchi (Tatsuo/ Puppeteer), Jacqueline Tate (Granny/ Puppeteer) and Ai Ninomiya (singer).
Apart from Victoria Chen as Mei, other new cast members include Phyllis Ho (Yasuko), Steven Nguyen (Kanta), Jamie Zubairi (Hiroshi) and Deanna Myers (Tsukiko).
Returning puppeteers include Matthew Leonhart, Heather Lai, Shofan Wilson (who also plays Miss Hara) and Anna Kato.
New puppeteers include Rachel Clare Chan, Sally Cheng, Sabrina Pui Yee Chin, Victor Itang, Gabriel S Janoras, Ronnie Lee, Kumiko Mendl (who also plays Nurse Emiko), Annakanako Mohri, Richard Peralta, Lucy Park and Chloe Ragrag.
Performances are confirmed for a 34-week run from March 8 to November 2, although a report on the Deadline website in April 2024 referred to this as an "initial period."
There will be performances from Tuesday to Saturday at 7p.m. In addition, there will be Monday performances (7 p.m.) on March 10, 17, 24 and 31. There will also be matinee performances at 2 p.m. on Thursdays and Saturdays, starting from March 22; and also matinee performances on Sundays from April 13.
The performances from March 8 to March 11 will be Reduced Price Previews.
For every performance, there will be twelve £10 tickets (limited to one per customer), available to people aged 14 to 25 and to full-time students. The offer can be accessed here at the RSC website.
The stage play's RSC executive producer Griselda Yorke said in the Deadline report that the play "will definitely have a life beyond the West End."
My Neighbor Totoro had its first 15-week run from its premiere on October 8, 2022 to January 21, 2023. It was 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) adapted the story, and Phelim McDermott (Akhnaten) directed the production. The play was made in collaboration with the English theatre company Improbable and Japan's Nippon TV.
The play had its second run at the Barbican Centre from November 21 through March 23, 2024. Yorke reported that over 290,000 attendees eventually saw the production at the Barbican.
The play won six awards at the Olivier Awards in April 2023, and was nominated for three more. The play had the most number of nominations and wins, with nine nominations and six wins. The play also won five awards at the theatrical WhatsOnStage Awards in February 2023.
The RSC describes the production on its website:
"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.
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.
Source: - My Neighbour Totoro play website, westendbestfriend
