Adaptor: Tom Morton-Smith
Director: Phelim McDermott
Turning a classic Japanese animated film into a stage play was always going to be tough, but the Royal Shakespeare Company makes the transition look easy. Its adaptation of 1988’s My Neighbor Totoro is a beautiful and delicate spectacle.
With elegant puppetry designed by Basil Twist, the forest spirit Totoro looks very much like the film’s original. He’s large, furry and has whiskers, like a cross between an owl and a rabbit. He’s a little frightening, but eminently loveable. Every time he half-jumps, half-floats upon the Barbican stage, he steals the show. Of course, with War Horse and The Life of Pi we are more used to seeing giant puppets on stage, but Totoro’s sheer size and strangeness is often breath-taking. In Japan he’s just as well-known as Winnie the Pooh and more recently appeared in Toy Story 3
Mei comes across him when she moves to the countryside from Tokyo with her father and sister so that they can be nearer the rural hospital in which their mother is confined. But the story isn’t really the point here, especially in the second half where the narrative begins to fizzle out, despite the spirited acting of Mei Mac as Mei. Bright-eyed and stubborn, four-year-old Mei is the main focus here, the human one at least, and Mac is fully committed and indefatigable in her portrayal. It’s always difficult for an adult to play a child but Mac clearly relishes the role and looks very much like the cartoon Mei in her pink dress and frilly knickers. She has solid support from Ami Okumura Jones as her elder sister Satsuki and Dai Tabuchi as their father.
Tom Pye’s set of houses and trees is initially a complicated one, but as the play continues, the stage is increasingly empty, with mini-sets being wheeled on. A live band and singer are ensconced at the back of the Barbican’s expansive stage, playing Joe Hisaishi’s score from the film. Also the executive producer, Hisaishi says that the stage play is not a faithful retelling of Studio Ghibli’s film; instead the play is trying to replicate the wonder of Totoro’s world.
And it’s not hard to be impressed by the world that is represented on stage, and it would be unfair to reveal the sensational creatures that appear, all manipulated by an ensemble of puppeteers, especially if you are unfamiliar with Hayao Miyazaki’s cult film. However, it is a shame that most of the real marvels are revealed in the first half that runs for almost 90 minutes.
It’s a long show, much longer than the film’s 86-minute running time, and this leisurely approach does suggest that the target audience is older children or even adults nostalgic for their childhood. It all looks amazing, but the story is just too thin to justify a show that lasts nearly three hours.
Runs until 21 January 2023
The Reviews Hub Score
Amazing but long
