16:35 PST 2/25/2021
in
Patrick Brzeski
The adaptation has the full cooperation of Studio Ghibli and will be written and directed by Tony winner, John Caird (‘Les Miserables’).
The charming world of Japanese anime legend Hayao Miyazaki is taking the stage.
The classic 2001 Oscar winner for the director Spirited Away will be adapted into a play for the first time, with a premiere date set for February 2022 in Tokyo. The adaptation will be produced by Japanese entertainment giant Toho and written and directed by Tony and Olivier award-winning director John Caird (The miserable, Nicholas Nickleby, Daddy Long Legs) Crucially, Miyazaki’s notoriously reclusive Studio Ghibli gave the project his full support.
“We, Hayao and I, like John’s vision; he is a person we can trust,” said Miyazaki’s longtime partner, Toshio Suzuki. “I look forward to seeing Chihiro grow on the stage under your direction, “he added, referring to the Spirited Awayoriginal Japanese title of, Sen to Chihiro at Kamikakushi.
“I feel so excited and privileged to be working on the first stage adaptation of Sen for Chihiro“Caird said in a statement.” For many years I have considered Miyazaki Hayao as one of the preeminent geniuses of world cinema and the greatest defender of the anime form. “
Spirited Away debuted in 2001 and became a global cultural phenomenon, earning $ 355 million and helping to spread international recognition for hand-drawn Japanese anime. Like almost all of Miyazaki’s work, the heroine of the story is a brave and intelligent young woman, in this case Chihiro, a 10-year-old girl who moved with her parents to a new home. They soon get lost in a mysterious world of fantastic spirits, ruled by the witch Yubaba, who turns Chihiro’s parents into pigs. After a series of bizarre and dangerous challenges, including the loss of his identity, Chihiro must use all his intelligence to survive in this strange place and return to the human world.
Chihiro’s role has already had a double cast for the 22-year-old pop star who became a movie actress Kanna Hashimoto (Assassination Classroom, Gintama), who will make his debut on stage, and Mone Kamishiraishi, best known for his voice world in a successful anime Your name.
Spirited Away will debut on the stage of the Imperial Theater of Toho in central Tokyo, playing there from February to March 2022. The production will tour the Japanese cities of Osaka (April), Fukuoka (May), Sapporo (June) and Nagoya (June) and July) Toho hopes to take the play to other parts of Asia and Europe, where Miyazaki’s work is hugely popular (Spirited Away, the film was released 18 years later in China in 2019, but still earned $ 69 million).
Caird, an honorary associate director at the Royal Shakespeare Company, said he has spent more than 1,000 hours developing his theatrical version of Spirited Awayand “expect to spend many thousands more”.
He added: “I share a belief in all the most dominant themes in Miyazaki’s work, themes that are at the heart of Sen for Chihiro world – care for the environment, reverence for nature, belief in the strength of good spirits within us and the empowerment of young women and men to change the world for the better. I look forward with great pleasure to deepen my partnership with my dear friends from Toho through a new relationship with Studio Ghibli and Suzuki Toshio, their most generous and inventive main producer. “