The original animation won the Academy Award for best animated feature in 2003. It was also the highest-grossing film in Japan for 19 years before its earnings were surpassed by Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train in 2020. The plot follows the story of ten-year-old girl Chihiro Ogino and her family, who accidentally venture into the world of the Kami, or spirits of Japanese Shinto folklore. Chihiro has to complete challenges to rescue her parents, who have been turned into pigs by Yubaba the witch, and meets lots of magical creatures along the way.

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The confirmed actors for Chihiro’s role include Kanna Hashimoto, a member of the former Japanese pop group Rev. from DVL; Mone Kamishiraishi, a singer and voice actor who starred in the 2016 Japanese animation Your Name. Haku is played by stage actor Hiroki Miura, who became the youngest actor to play Marius Pontmercy in the Imperial Theatre’s staging of Les Misérables in 2019 and 2021.

Hashimoto and Kamishiraishi have both spoken of their excitement towards their castings. “I was in primary school when I first watched the animation, and now I am playing Chihiro in the world premiere of its stage adaptation,” says Hashimoto. “I feel a strong sense of responsibility, knowing that I am the one who writes the history of this stage production. I hope that this Chihiro, whom I bring to life onstage, can ‘live’ onstage.”

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“I want to pay my respect to the animation with this production,” says Kamishiraishi. “Spirited Away is my favourite film. When I was small, I was frightened by the scene where Chihiro’s parents are turned into pigs. But I would still glue my eyes to the screen even if I was crying. My favourite scene is when Chihiro and her friends visit Zeniba [Yubaba’s sister]. Each time I watch it, I am touched in a new way, and my emotions [towards the film] also grow stronger as I grow older.”

Caird, who is also a fan of Studio Ghibli, has signed a contract that promises he would not make major alternations to the original work.

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