There are so many things about this stage adaptation of Spirited Away that shouldn’t work. For a start, the original Studio Ghibli animation features a mad cast of surreal and otherworldly beings: vast creatures made of slime, flying wolf-dragons, disembodied heads that bounce merrily about the place.
Then there’s the fact the production, which transfers from a sold-out run in Japan, is all in Japanese: convincing people to spend as much as £200 to read subtitles – or in this case surtitles – is no mean feat.
But from the moment you walk into the theatre any fears are allayed. This is a spectacular production, at once painstakingly faithful to Miyazaki’s original Spirited Away while simultaneously willing to use the breadth and depth of the stage for giant, joyous song-and-dance numbers featuring the absurdly large ensemble cast.
The set is a thing of beauty, transforming from a secluded hillside to a labyrinthine bath house to a vast seascape. Intricate, rotating buildings spiral together to create vertiginous towers, while cast members holding doors perform tightly choreographed routines to craft spaces that move dynamically around the characters.
The costumes are even more impressive, recalling the best work of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, combining inflatables with puppetry and intricate layers of fabric to bring the lovable collection of monsters to life. Worthy of special mention is Yuya Igarashi as Kashira, the trio of bouncing heads (his own, painted green and one puppet on each hand) who gets the night’s biggest laughs, and Hikaru Yamano as No Face, the mysterious, amorphous being that seems to glitch and glide across the stage.
The performances are excellent throughout, from the young cast who alternate roles each night to the puppeteers who expertly bring the creations to life. Rarely a minute passes when something doesn’t bring a smile to your face: characters and props appearing and disappearing through feats of misdirection or sleight of hand; small acts of slapstick or tenderness between puppets; impressive moments of acrobatics and circus skills. I haven’t mentioned the orchestra! Or the lighting!
