Spirited Away to be adapted for the stage

The iconic Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away will be brought to the stage next year.

Running at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo from February, the piece will be the first ever stage version of the Oscar-winning film created by Hayao Miyazaki, originally titled Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi. It follows a young girl, Chihiro, who is travelling to her new home with her parents before the three of them encounter a mysterious ancient location housing a plethora of mystical beings.

It will be adapted and directed by John Caird, who also adapted and co-directed Les Misérables when it first premiered at the Barbican.

The show will be led by Kanna Hashimoto (Kingdom) and Mone Kamishiraishi (Your Name), both taking on the role of Chihiro.

After its original run in Tokyo the show will tour to Osaka (April), Fukuoka (May), Sapporo (June) and Nagoya (June and July).

"We, Hayao and I, both liked John's vision. He is a person we can trust. I am looking forward to seeing Chihiro grow on stage under his direction," said Studio Ghibli's Toshio Suzuki, the film producer of Spirited Away. "I could tell how much he adores this story from his delighted face when I gave him a No-Face (Kaonashi) piggy-bank."

Previous Ghibli work adapted for the stage includes Princess Mononoke, which ran in 2013 at the New Diorama Theatre in London and at the AiiA Theatre in Tokyo.

Plans for any further international productions of Spirited Away have yet to be revealed.

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