There are few theatrical experiences that can make an audience of both children and adults sigh, laugh, and tear up in unison quite like the RSC’s My Neighbour Totoro. Based on Hayao Miyazaki’s beloved 1988 Studio Ghibli film, this stage adaptation, directed by Phelim McDermott transforms the Barbican stage into a living, breathing dreamscape that feels both intimate and vast.
From the moment the lights dim and Joe Hisaishi’s unmistakable score floats into the air, the production wraps you in nostalgia and discovery. Tom Pye’s set design conjures a lush rural Japan that shifts seamlessly between the real and the magical. Sliding panels, wooden walkways, and fields of shimmering reeds create an earthy, painterly world that invites you to get lost within it.
But it’s the puppetry, designed by Basil Twist and executed by an astonishing ensemble, that truly brings the magic to life. The soot sprites are wonderfully inventive, bounding and gliding across the stage with infectious energy. But the moment Totoro himself appears, a colossal and gentle forest spirit swaying under a bus stop’s rain, the audience audibly gasps. He’s as endearing and majestic as ever, crafted from fur, fabric, and illusion, yet utterly believable. Both the enormous Totoro and the light up Catbus are a feast for the imagination and a wonder to see.
At its heart, Totoro is a simple story: two sisters, Satsuki and Mei, adjusting to rural life while their mother recovers in hospital. But beneath that simplicity runs a current of profound tenderness about family, loss, and the resilience of childhood imagination. The performances, particularly from Mei Mac (Satsuki) and Ami Okumura Jones (Mei), are beautifully natural. Their sibling dynamic brims with warmth, mischief, and authenticity.
The production’s greatest triumph is how it trusts its audience, children and adults alike, to feel deeply without over-explaining. There’s little dialogue, but every rustle of wind and flicker of light tells its own story. It’s theatre as sensory poetry.
By the curtain call, it’s impossible not to be moved. The RSC has managed something rare: a large-scale production that feels personal, a family show that’s sophisticated, and an adaptation that honours its source while standing tall as its own work of art. As soon as it finished I wanted to start it again, much like the film.
Tickets available and bookable until August 2026. Tickets | My Neighbour Totoro
★★★★★ — A breathtaking celebration of imagination, memory, and the gentle power of nature.