Sarah on theater

As stage adaptations of beloved animated films go, this felt a little risky to me! “My Neighbor Totoro” (the movie) is infamously light on plot and “My Neighbour Totoro” (the play) is a faithful adaptation that nevertheless stretches its runtime by an extra hour. They pretty much nail it, but if you aren’t impressed by the puppets, it’s gonna drag.

Then again, how could you not be? The technical wizardry on display here is crazy and the results are delightful. Totoro. Catbus. I like that they leaned into visible puppeteers to make them feel like a deliberate choice rather than a compulsory one. The orchestra up in the trees, including some pieces outside the proscenium, was a cute touch and I was surprised by how good the acoustic results were—there was a distinct “surround sound” effect that was very pleasing.

On the topic of the sound, loved hearing this score in person. Joe Hisaishi’s music is such a lovely part of the Studio Ghibli movies and he does something with the brass that has such an adventurous-but-also-nostalgic quality to it. Maybe that’s me inserting my own bias. I grew up watching these. (“Princess Mononoke” is my fave. Never miss a chance to enthusiastically plug the Ghibli Museum outside Tokyo; don’t miss the little licensed cream puff shop, either.)

If you aren’t similarly nursing nostalgia, you might think the story’s a little simple. Adults running around doing very good impressions of anime kids. 🙂 It’s definitely a show for kids and the audience is buzzy with them, which I find very endearing, but you could tell they were starting to feel the length at points.