About the Show

The RSC's six-time Olivier Award-winning stage adaptation of the hit fantasy movie.

In post-war Japan, sisters Satsuki & Mei move to a new home in the country in order to be closer to their mother, who is a patient at a nearby hospital. One fateful day, Mei discovers two spirits called soot sprites residing in their home. She befriends a larger spirit she mistakenly calls Totoro, beginning the adventure of a lifetime.

Exploring the wonder of childhood and the power of imagination, 'My Neighbour Totoro' follows one extraordinary summer as the sisters are transported to a forgotten fantasy world.

This theatrical production is based on the beloved 1988 Japanese animated feature film of the same name, created by Hayao Miyazaki ('Spirited Away'). The movie explores environmentalism, Shinto and animism, and has amassed a worldwide cult following.

Theatre & opera director Phelim McDermott helms this ambitious production that contains music by Joe Hisaishi and puppets created by The Jim Henson Company.

'My Neighbour Totoro' returns to the Barbican after its world premiere at the venue in 2022. The show went on to win 6 Olivier Awards at the 2023 ceremony, including Best Director, Best Lighting Design, Best Set Design, Best Sound Design, Best Costume design, and Best Play.

This production is recommended for ages 6+.

Critic Reviews (11)

For a previous production

"For all the ravishing imagery and the collective endeavour involved, this show isn’t quirky or adult-friendly enough for that."
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For a previous production

"The puppets – designed by Basil Twist, assembled by Jim Hendon’s Creature Workshop – are fucking spectacular...you’d enjoy it if you hadn’t seen the film, but nonetheless, there is no question that its purpose is to put the film on stage."
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For a previous production

"The puppetry by Basil Twist creates much of the magic...It is not nearly as high-powered in its special effects as a Disney adaptation but just as dazzling in its magic realism."
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For a previous production

" 'Totoro’ is magnificently humongous with a mighty, reverberating growl, wicked smile, lumbering walk and bouncy castle of a fluffy tum.
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For a previous production

"If you’re an admirer of Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli movies, you’re almost certain to feel the same about Tom Morton-Smith’s puppet-driven adaptation, which adds flesh to a pastoral storyline that is so slender it could be described as Teletubbies go zen."
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For a previous production

"The show itself takes great delight in each creative solution to telling this wild and wonderful fairy tale. The black-clad ensemble of skilful puppeteers brings the soot sprites to life by dancing them around on wires, until they fly up into the sky on what looks like a nursery mobile."
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For a previous production

"... the cast perfectly marry playfulness and truthful emotional simplicity to extraordinary technical sophistication. It’s unadulterated joy: a huge, healing hug of a show, generous and utterly beguiling."
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For a previous production

" 'My Neighbour Totoro' captures that sense of childlike wonder perfectly and manages to recapture that childhood magic for the adult members of the audience in a way I don’t think any show before has managed to."
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Trailer

Creative team

Royal Shakespeare Company