A fresh set of backstage photographs from My Neighbour Totoro has been released as the Studio Ghibli adaptation starts the last twelve weeks of its run at the Gillian Lynne Theatre.
The pictures are the work of photographer Danny Kaan, who followed the company of My Neighbour Totoro through the dressing rooms, corridors and wings of the Gillian Lynne Theatre. Their timing is no accident: the production has twelve weeks left before it closes on Sunday 3 January 2027, the date it confirmed in September.
Kaan's camera finds the side of the show that the audience never sees. Members of the puppetry ensemble crowd together in front of a mirror ringed with bulbs, still in their dark puppeteers' costumes; a cast member in a peaked cap grins up a backstage stairwell; and the whole company is pictured on stage in front of the forest set, with the auditorium empty in the foreground.
The release also lands on an anniversary. The production gave its first preview at the Barbican Theatre on 8 October 2022, four years ago to the day, and played two seasons there before moving to the Gillian Lynne on 8 March 2025. By the time the final performance comes down in January, it will have been seen by more than a million people since that first Barbican preview, and it has collected multiple awards along the way.
The stage version is presented by executive producer Joe Hisaishi and the Royal Shakespeare Company, in collaboration with Nippon TV and Improbable. Tom Morton-Smith, whose plays include Oppenheimer, adapted it from Hayao Miyazaki's 1988 animated film, and Improbable co-founder Phelim McDermott directs.
The story centres on two sisters, Satsuki and Mei, whose father moves them out of the city so the family can be close to their mother while she recovers in a country hospital. Their new home seems quiet at first, but Mei soon discovers that the woods around it are full of spirits, including the great guardian of the forest she calls Totoro, and before long both girls are caught up in his world.
Victoria Chen plays Mei and Helen Chong her older sister Satsuki, with Dai Tabuchi as Tatsuo, Jacqueline Tate as Granny and Ai Ninomiya as Kaze No Koe/Singer.
The show's Kazego Puppetry Ensemble is made up of Karen Barredo, Melisa Camba, Rachel Clare Chan, Jeffrey Chekai, Chui Yen, Phyllis Ho (Yasuko), Victor Itang, Gabriel S. Janoras, Natsumi Kuroda (Tsukiko), Eero Chen Liu (Principal Puppeteer), Kumiko Mendl (Nurse Emiko), Yui Minari, Michelle Miners, Steven Nguyen (Kanta), Richard P. Peralta, Gun Suen (Principal Puppeteer/Puppetry Captain), Sango Tajima (Miss Hara/Principal Puppeteer), Bai Zhijin and Jamie Zubairi (Hiroshi). Ronnie Lee, Wenhsin Lee, Amber Lin, Sera Maehara and Si Rawlinson (Movement Captain) are the swings.
Behind them is a creative team led by Tom Pye on production design and Basil Twist on puppetry design and direction. Kimie Nakano designs the costumes, Jessica Hung Han Yun the lighting, and You-Ri Yamanaka is responsible for movement. Hisaishi's score is played live in a new orchestration by Will Stuart, with sound design by Tony Gayle and sound effects and soundscape by Nicola T Chang. Video design is by Finn Ross and Andrea Scott, Pippa Hill is dramaturg and Hannah Miller CDG is casting director. The hand-lettered title on the artwork comes from Toshio Suzuki, the Studio Ghibli producer who worked on the original film.
Evening performances are at 7pm from Tuesday to Saturday, with 2pm matinees on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and an extra half-term matinee at 2pm on Tuesday 27 October 2026. There are four assisted performances, all at 2pm: signed on Sunday 11 October 2026, relaxed on Sunday 8 November 2026, audio-described on Saturday 5 December 2026 and captioned on Sunday 6 December 2026. The festive schedule has no performances on Friday 25 or Saturday 26 December, and the run ends with a 2pm matinee on Sunday 3 January 2027.
Tickets for My Neighbour Totoro are on sale now for the remaining performances at 166 Drury Lane, and group bookings are available until the closing date.
