Animated feature film SPIRITED AWAY, director Hayao Miyazaki’s timeless masterpiece, became a blockbuster right after its release in 2001. The heroine, a 10-year-old girl, Chihiro, gets lost in a realm of gods and spirits after going through a tunnel on a drive with her parents to their new home. The story follows her as she survives and build resilience to find her way to return to the human world. In 2003, the film won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was released in China for the first time in 2019 and caused a sensation. It has continued to be one of the most beloved animated movies of all time around the world.
This celebrated animation feature is now bound to have its world premiere as a live stage performance. The theatrical production SPIRITED AWAY (original title: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) will be presented at the Imperial Theatre (Marunouchi, Tokyo) from March 2nd to 29th, 2022.
The highly anticipated stage adaptation will be written and directed by John Caird. Caird, Honorary Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, had adapted and directed the world premiere of the monumental musical Les Misérables. The heroine, Chihiro, will be double-cast with Kanna Hashimoto, who has gained critical acclaim for her many appearances in films/TV dramas and will be making her theatrical debut, and Mone Kamishiraishi, who has starred in multiple TV dramas, films, theatre pieces and is recognized as a brilliant singer/voice actor as well. The one-and-only character actor, Mari Natsuki, who voiced the sorceress Yubaba who ruled the bathhouse and her twin sister Zeniba in the original film, will double-cast the same roles with the voice actor, Romi Park. A star-studded cast has lined up to celebrate Toho’s 90th anniversary coming up in 2022.