Peek behind the curtain of the spectacular theatrical adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s Oscar-winning Spirited Away with a special conversation tracing its journey from screen to stage. Director and adaptor John Caird and co-adaptor Imai Maoko are joined by Japan House London’s Programming Director Simon Wright to discuss their re-imagining of Miyazaki Hayao’s classic 2001 animation as an extraordinary stage show.

Following its world premiere at the Tokyo Imperial Theatre in 2022, and a sell-out tour of Japan, the Japanese-language production is now showing at the London Coliseum. Reimagined for the stage with wildly imaginative puppets, dazzling set and costume designs and a live orchestra playing the original film score by Joe Hisaishi, Spirited Away tells the enchanting tale of Chihiro who while traveling to a new home with her family, stumbles into a world of fantastical spirits ruled over by the sorceress Yubaba. When her parents are turned into pigs and she is put to work in a magical bathhouse, Chihiro must use her wits to survive in this strange new place, find a way to free her parents, and return to the normal world.

The discussion is followed by an opportunity for attendees to ask questions to the speakers.

The event starts at 18:30 and will last for about one hour.

About the Speakers

John Caird

John Caird is an Honorary Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and a Tony and Oliver award-winning director of plays, operas and musicals. His recent directorial credits include: Parsifal for Houston Grand Opera, Monteverdi’s Orfeo for Garsington Opera, The Phoenix in Houston, Estella Scrooge in New York, Knights’ Tale, Hamlet, Twelfth Night and Jane Eyre all in Tokyo, Don Giovanni at WNO in Cardiff, Tosca in Chicago, Houston and LA, Love’s Labour’s Lost at the Stratford Festival in Canada, La Bohème in San Francisco, Toronto and Houston, and his own musical Daddy Long Legs Off-Broadway, in Tokyo, London and all around the world. Theatre Craft, his book about directing for the stage, is published by Faber and Faber.

Imai Maoko

Born in Tokyo, Imai Maoko studied acting under Bandō Tamasaburō at the Tokyo Conservatoire. She then went on to be cast in a number of plays including Nyonin Aishi, Witness for the Prosecution, and as Fantine in Les Misérables. Her other acting roles include the television drama Sensei no Okiniiri, and the leading role in the radio drama Whiteout. She now translates novels, musicals and plays. Her work includes a new Japanese translation of the Jean Webster novel Daddy Long-Legs (Pearson Japan), as well as its musical adaptation by John Caird and Paul Gordon, the concert At Home in the World, and the stage script of Hamlet (Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre), the Japanese script and lyrics for Knights’ Tale, and the translation and lyrics for Jane Eyre.

Booking Essential | Admission Free