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Spirited Away

 


When: 10th July 2024 (Matinee)

Where: London Coliseum, London

Writer: John Caird and Maoko Imai (After Hayao Miyazaki)

Director: John Caird


After seeing the RSC's stunning production of My Neighbour Totoro this production of Spirited Away had a lot to live up to, and it managed it beautifully. This production of Spirited Away is a perfect adaptation of the film, holding onto its joy and excitement transporting us into the world of the bathhouse. 

In it's approach to adaption Spirited Away feels similar to My Neighbour Totoro, using Puppetry and practical sets to bring the magical world of Miyazaki's award winning film to life. Not only are the puppets beautifully crafted, but the performers puppeteering them expertly give them life. Each character looks, moves and acts in their own specific way, so whilst we may never hear them speak they are all individual and understandable. With more complex puppets again this production took a practical approach using its ensemble to control each part of the puppet instilling it with character and life. I really liked how the puppeteers were never hidden, they were always in clear view for the audience, it was a stylised choice in quite a realistic set but with the strong presence of magic it worked really nicely. This was also true during moments of objects manipulation, I particularly remember the movement of the contract towards Chihiro, whilst we could clearly see the person moving it it was done in a way that we understood clearly that it was a magical sheet of paper floating towards her. Personally I find these practical solutions more magical and exciting than using trickery such as wires to float the items. 

One of the biggest things which sets this production apart and which I was nervous about is that it is performed in its original language, Japanese, with surtitles surrounding the stage. Unlike many I am not one to watch Tv programmes or films with subtitles on, I find them distracting and often feel like I'm missing half the action because I'm having to look down to read the words and I feared this would feel the same. However I quickly got used to it, it did take away from the immersiveness of the performance but with the use of puppeteers as mentioned previously it worked seamlessly within the world of the show. The surtitles were on either side of the proscenium and above so they were always clearly within sightlines the speech was also at a manageable pace meaning I never felt rushed to read and often finished reading before they had finished the line allowing me to listen to the character and not constantly reading. 

I admire the decision to keep the performance in its original language and keeping the same cast, by doing this I felt the show not only truthfully portrayed the story but also the culture in which it represents. By performing in their native language the performances held the essence and mannerisms of Japanese culture. I am no expert on Japanese theatre but there were nuances to the performance of the characters that you would not see in British theatre. The costumes, sets and dances also felt reminiscent of Kabuki theatre giving an authentic theatrical experience. As someone interested in theatre, I adored being able to experience another cultures style of theatre particularly within access of my own home. 

This is production is exciting and vivid, it really is an experience.

  

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