Branching out: watching Miyazaki's Spirited Away live

at the London Coliseum on West End

I grew up adoring Studio Ghibli’s animated films, and Spirited Away was one of the first I watched on telly Christmas morning when I was about 8 years old. For a child who’d never really encountered anything about Japan, this was undoubtedly a wild ride. The sort of kids cartoons I’d watched until then were American, full of fart joke humour and mysteries and evil giant-brained mice. So when I saw Spirited Away, with it’s colourful characters, rich soundtrack and beautiful story, I think it’s fair to say I was hooked. I don’t think I’d ever seen a hand-drawn animated piece which was so artistic. And all these years later, who would’ve thought that they could produce a live theatre show, and that it would fly all the way from Japan to the UK? Seeing it performed live on stage was an absolute feast for the eyes, a delight.

So yes, this week I’m straying from books for a moment, just for a quick geek-out; I hope you don’t mind. It feels like only last week that I was glued to the waitlist screen, thousands in line to order tickets for the live show at their first release last September. The Coliseum was packed, all but a few seats occupied, and everyone riveted to the show - it was so intense! I’m no expert in theatre production, but I know that this film was incredibly hard to interpret, with so many iconic scenes, characters and even location backdrops to replicate. But the producers left nothing out. I found myself anticipating how they were going to attempt the stink spirit scene (in which a revolting mud beast is bathed to reveal a river god, following a huge team effort to pull from his body all of the sludge and rubbish thrown in his river). The cast pulled a parachute of ‘sludge’ over themselves, and then beneath the silk surface of the bath water, two prop hands rose holding the mask of the river god’s face, before he shot up into the crowd. It was perfect.

There was a huge variety of props and puppets used throughout the production: Yubaba’s giant angry-mode face, three different dragon Haku’s, Komaji’s extendable arms, two or three No-face masks and the river dragon spirit - and this is without mentioning the sootballs, the giant baby fat suit, the train, the spirit costumes and floating masks (and pig heads!). Even from high up on the third tier, you could tell how thoughtfully made each of these pieces were. Hats off to the stage hands and prop wielders for their synchronisation and coordination, which must’ve been agonising to practice and run every night. The same goes for the pit orchestra, who sounded just like the original soundtrack in parts, but with some added twists. I was green with envy - imagine performing these pieces every night!

The stage had a large turning centrepiece which acted as the foundation for each scene’s location, and from it there were ladders and floating walkways for the cast to use. This space was decorated for each scene, acting as the female workers sleeping quarters, the resturant where Chihiro’s parents ate and transformed into pigs, the entrance to the bathhouse, the giant baby’s bedroom, Komaji’s boilerhouse. The only large set change happened for Zeniba’s cottage in Swampbottom, and while this was happening behind the curtain we were treated to a solo dance by the lamp - yes, the lamp. There were certainly some elements of the story which might’ve been lost if you were watching without prior knowledge of the film, but for the fan, it was immenseley satisfying. I was so absorbed in what was happenning on stage at points that I almost forgot that we were listening in Japanese; which is a point actually, as you do need to read subtitles to understand the dialogue unless you happen to be fluent in Nihon-go. But for me, this only enhanced the authentic feeling, plus I like reading anyway. Just make sure to remember your glasses!

So if you are a fan or are even slightly aware of Spirited Away, or Studio Ghibli, then I highly recommend trying to get a seat for this production. I also hear that the My Neighbour Totoro live show may be coming back to the West End soon, so I’m starting to save now as the theatre isn’t cheap! Let me know if you enjoyed my ‘branching out’ (gushing as it’s otherwise known), or if I should just stick to books.

Love,

Holly 🦋