Spirited Away to return to London as part of world tour

The stage adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away will return to London for a second season while embarking on a world tour.

Based on the Oscar-winning animated film by Hayao Miyazaki, it is adapted for the stage by John Caird, co-adapted by Maoko Imai. It features the original score by Joe Hisaishi.

The play tells the story of Chihiro as she travels to a new home with her family and stumbles into a fantasy world of spirits ruled over by the sorceress Yubaba. When her parents are transformed into pigs, Chihiro must find a way to free them and escape back to the real world.

Spirited Away debuted at the London Coliseum in 2024 and went on to win Best New Play at the 25th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards. Our chief critic Sarah Crompton described the show as “captivating” and a “very loving tribute to a deservedly acclaimed film”.

The piece will return to the same venue in 2028 between March and July, concluding a world tour.

The tour will open at the National Theater, Taipei (December 2026 to January 2027), before embarking on a national tour of Japan beginning in Tokyo (March to August 2027), then running at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto (May to August 2027), and the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles (September to October 2027).

Directed by Caird, Spirited Away has music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Brad Haak, associate music supervision, orchestrations and Ableton programming by Conor Keelan, set design by Jon Bausor, puppetry design and direction by Toby Olié, choreography and staging by Shigehiro Ide, lighting design by Jiro Katsushiba, sound design by Koichi Yamamoto, costume design by Sachiko Nakahara, hair and make-up design by Hiroaki Miyauchi, and projection design by Satoshi Kuriyama. The stage manager is Takashi Hojo, the assistant to the director is Maoko Imai, the associate director is Makoto Nagai, the producer is Haruka Ogi and the co-producer is Iain Gillie.

Presented by TOHO Co Ltd and co-produced by PW Productions in association with Studio Ghibli, casting is to be revealed.