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Studio Ghibli fans have been spectacularly well served by London theatre in recent years: the RSC’s adaptation of My Neighbour Totoro has been an enormous hit and is running in the West End until early next year, while a couple of years back we spent a summer in the very pleasant company of an Anglo-Japanese production of the renowned Japanese animation studio’s later hit Spirited Away.
Whereas Totoro will leave town having surely been seen by everyone who could possibly want to have seen it (or at the very least, they’ve got no excuse not to), Spirited Away only had a limited run at the London Coliseum in 2024, and not to put too fine a point on it but the affordable tickets all went really quickly, meaning that by the time the reviews came out it was not cheap, to say the least.
But now, a second chance to see it, albeit not for a little while. Starting this December, John Caird’s production will embark upon a massive global tour taking in Taipei, Tokyo, Los Angeles and Toronto, before finishing up with us again at the Coliseum. However, it should be pointed out that due to the show’s prodigious popularity it’s set to be a very long tour and Spirited Away won’t arrive in London until the spring of 2028, with exact dates TBA.
Yes, it’s a bit of a wait. But it is pretty much a once in a lifetime show, so we’re very lucky to get it twice.
Spirited Away will be at the London Coliseum in spring 2028, dates TBA. Sign up at spiritedawayonstage.com to be the first to hear more information.
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