MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO

The award-winning adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s classic animation, My Neighbour Totoro, will move to London’s West End. Playing at the Gillian Lynne Theatre from March 2025.

The production played for two sell-out seasons at the Barbican in 2022/23 and 2023/24. Presented by executive producer Joe Hisaishi, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Improbable and Nippon TV, and with puppets built by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. The show broke box office records, becoming the fastest selling show in the Barbican’s history, and opened to critical acclaim.

This enchanting coming-of-age story explores the magical fantasy world of childhood and the transformative power of imagination, as it follows one extraordinary summer in the lives of sisters Satsuki and Mei.

In order to be closer to their mother while she recovers from an illness in a rural convalescent hospital, their father moves the family to the countryside. As the girls explore their beautiful new surroundings, Mei encounters magical creatures and the ancient protector of the forest she calls Totoro.

Although Satsuki doesn’t believe her little sister at first, they are soon both swept up in exciting adventures with their new neighbours – transported to a long-forgotten realm of spirits, sprites, and natural wonder.

Satsuki (Ami Okumura Jones) and company - Manuel Harlan © RSC and Nippon TV / 2023 Barbican production

Kanta (Ka Long Kelvin Chan) and company - Manuel Harlan © RSC and Nippon TV / 2023 Barbican production

Satsuki (Ami Okumura Jones) and Mei (Mei Mac) - Manuel Harlan © RSC and Nippon TV / 2022 Barbican production

“Faithfully adapted by playwright Tom Morton-Smith ... the show is a quirky delight that enchants and amuses, but also moves: its child’s-eye view of the world evokes both wonderment and vulnerability ... it’s exquisite, every detail of design and execution painstakingly considered. ★★★★★”
— Sam Marlowe - The Stage
“Tom Morton-Smith’s adaptation strikes a perfect balance of honouring Hayao Miyazaki’s creation and seeking a new theatrical language ... theatre at its most magical. ★★★★★”
— Marianka Swain - londontheatre.co.uk
“Fucking spectacular ... an endless cavalcade of sweet, strange joy.”
— Andrzej Łukowski - Time Out London

Directed by Phelim McDermott with production design by Tom Pye, costumes by Kimie Nakano, lighting by Jessica Hung Han Yun, and movement by You-Ri Yamanaka, the production featured puppetry created by Basil Twist and music from Joe Hisaishi’s iconic score in a new orchestration by Will Stuart, performed live with sound design by Tony Gayle. Associate Director was Ailin Conant.

“A dazzling staging of the Studio Ghibli classic. ★★★★★”
— Arifa Akbar - The Guardian
“... leaves us with a heart-warming feeling of hope and an admiration for the power of imagination ... it’s also a joyous showcase of theatre magic at its best. ★★★★★”
— Holly O'Mahony - Culture Whsiper

Mei (Mei Mac), Yasuko (Haruka Abe) and Satsuki (Ami Okumura Jones) - Manuel Harlan © RSC and Nippon TV / 2022 Barbican production

Mei (Mei Mac), Satsuki (Ami Okumura Jones) and Tatsuo (Dai Tabuchi) - Manuel Harlan © RSC and Nippon TV / 2022 Barbican production

“A tender and remarkably beautiful show. ★★★★★”
— Sarah Hemming - The Financial Times
“The most endearing sight on the London stage ... the kindness, empathy and generosity of spirit that “My Neighbour Totoro” evokes are infectious.”
— Matt Wolf - The New York Times

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Barbican Theatre, London, 8th October 2022 to 21st January 2023. Royal Shakespeare Company / Joe Hisaishi / NipponTV / Improbable, dir: Phelim McDermott.

Barbican Theatre, London, 21st November 2023 to 24th March 2024. Royal Shakespeare Company / Joe Hisaishi / NipponTV / Improbable, dir: Phelim McDermott.

TIME OUT LONDON: BEST THEATRE SHOWS OF 2022 - THE STAGE TOP 50 SHOWS OF 2022: LONDON - INDEPENDENT: BEST THEATRE OF 2022 - FINANCIAL TIMES: BEST THEATRE SHOWS OF 2022 - CULTURE WHISPER: LONDON’S BEST THEATRE SHOWS 2022 - BROADWAY WORLD: 2022 IN REVIEW, BEST WEST END THEATRE - DEADLINE: THE BEST OF THE WEST END IN 2022

The Earthworks

Performing at The Clare studio, Young Vic Theatre, 26th March to 6th April 2024.

A hotel bar in Geneva, the night before the Large Hadron Collider is switched on. A woman walks up to a man. She's a journalist, trying to write a career-defining article, and he is a scientist, still reeling from a recent loss. What could have an obvious ending, turns into a story of two people’s worlds colliding for a brief, yet life-changing moment. 
 
Directed by 2023 Genesis Future Directors Award recipient, Andrea Ling, and written by the award-winning Tom Morton-Smith (My Neighbour Totoro, Oppenheimer at the RSC), The Earthworks is a moving and hilarious exploration into carrying the weight of grief and knowing when it’s time to let go. 

Natalie Dew (Clare), Mark Edel-Hunt (Fritjof) / photo by Laima Arlauskaite / Young Vic 2024

Natalie Dew (Clare) / photo by Laima Arlauskaite / Young Vic 2024

“Morton-Smith is best known for the epic Oppenheimer, but this small, often funny play focusing on two fragile people rubbing up against each other at a moment of change has its own quiet heroism. What appears to be a romantic comedy turns into something more unsettling ... raising questions about the limits of knowledge and our capacity to face up to the future. Oh, and who wouldn’t love a play that uses a custard fight to explain mass?”
— Lyn Gardner, Guardian / RSC 2017
“This is small-scale and delicate ... a late-night encounter between a journalist and a scientist in a Geneva hotel on the eve of the activation of the Large Hadron Collider. All the grandest ideas in the world are about [to] come into play there, but Morton-Smith reminds us that it’s the most intimate human connections that have the greatest impact. ★★★★”
— Fiona Mountford, Evening Standard / RSC 2017

Lena Kaur as Clare and Thomas Magnusson as Fritjof / photo by Topher McGrillis / RSC 2017

PRODUCTION HISTORY

First performed at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, as part of the Mischief Festival, 24th May to June 17th 2017. Royal Shakespeare Company, dir: Erica Whyman.

Young Vic Theatre, London, 26th March to 6th April 2024. dir: Andrea Ling, winner of the Genesis Future Directors award.

In Doggerland

A coastline erodes, a house falls into the sea. A mysterious brother and sister arrive looking for answers. Marnie clings to her camera, taking photographs of strangers and places. She has come to say goodbye to a life she never knew whilst her brother Linus is keen to make a fresh start. But when they find Simon and daughter Kelly, reeling in the wake of tragedy, all four lives are to become inextricably linked under the weight of the past. A funny and heartfelt new play about lives lived on shifting sands, In Doggerland is a searching examination of love, family and identity.

First performed at Theatre 503, London, as part of LabFest, 13th June 2011. Box of Tricks, dir: Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder. National tour beginning at The Lowry, Manchester, 7th November 2013. Box of Tricks, dir: Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder.

“Morton-Smith’s script is both poetic and philosophical, a thoughtful meditation on the impact of loss . . . there are some really heart-wrenching moments . . . a touching and funny play that explores the lives of four people brought together by tragedy and hope. ★★★★”
— What's On Stage
“Morton-Smith ignores the more obvious narrative paths to focus instead on a subtler and more emotionally resonant tale highlighting how people connect with and impact on each other . . . Morton-Smith’s uncanny ear for dialogue, perfectly capturing the randomness of everyday speech as well as the way people reveal information about themselves, and a touching, unshowy denouement demonstrate that [he is] a writer in ascendance.”
— The Stage

The Chamber of Curiosities

The Easterbrook Museum was founded in 1876 by Charlton Ambrose Easterbrook. Having inherited his father's sugar business, Easterbrook opened his private collection of curios and ephemera to the public. Successive generations have expanded the collection and the museum has grown to become one of the foremost privately owned collections of curious artefacts in the country. Here we present a small selection of our many items to amaze and dazzle you. Join chief curator Lydia Easterbrook in the faraway forest as she guides you through the astounding stories that surround her family's collection.

First performed at the Latitude Arts Festival, Suffolk, 19th July 2013. Francesca Moody, dir: Thomas Hescott.

Everyday Maps for Everyday Use

Second Place in the PapaTango New Writing Festival 2012.

Maggie has found a warm patch of ground on Horsell Common. She believes something is buried in the dirt. This is the site of the Martian invasion in H G Wells' The War of the Worlds and she sneaks out of the house in the dead of night and dances on the warm spot. Here she meets Behrooz, an amateur astronomer who spends his nights mapping the surface of Mars. A stunning new play about fantasy and sexuality, and about the blurry and indistinct lines between reality and desire.

First performed at the Finborough Theatre, London, 5th December 2012. PapaTango, dir: Beckie Mills.

“. . . an evening of ebullience with moments of wonder . . . it contains moments of exemplary writing - at the level of the sentence, character, plot and in terms of relationships. There are a selection of monologues that are almost uniformly outstanding: raw, nimble and devastating.”
— A Younger Theatre

Venison

A darkly humorous tale of country-pubs, car accidents and the impacts and collisions of finding love. Martin makes his money providing black-market meat to local pubs and restaurants, hunting deer on the Ashdown forest with his 4x4. He is drawn to the enigmatic figure of Robyn, a waitress who has never truly been close to anybody. 

Presented at Lindfield Arts Festival, West Sussex, 15th May 2010. Yellowtale, dir: Robin Belfield. Premiered at the Hawth, Crawley, 4th June 2010. Yellowtale, dir: Robin Belfield. Transferred to Theatre 503, London, 7th June 2010. Yellowtale, dir: Robin Belfield.

Sarah Jane Wolverson as Robyn in Venison. Photo by Robin Belfield.

Sarah Jane Wolverson as Robyn in Venison. Photo by Robin Belfield.

Blunderbuss

A collaboration with composer Jon Nicholls.

Half documentary, half drama, Blunderbuss delves into the fallout of school shootings, how they are reported and how they go on to inspire others. 

First performed The Theatre, Chipping Norton as part of Play Festival, 11th July 2009. Fresh Glory, dir: Anna Tolputt. Transferred to the Latitude Arts Festival, Suffolk, 18th July 2009. Fresh Glory, dir: Anna Tolputt.

Uncertainty

Professor Raymond Palmer, a specialist in quantum theory, has disappeared. Those closest to him become subjects in a scientific investigation into his mysterious absence. Last seen at Latitude Festival 2008, Uncertainty examines how science helps us explain the unexplainable. 

First performed at Arts Theatre, London, 14th July 2008. Sincera Productions, dir: John Terry. Transferred to the Latitude Arts Festival, Suffolk, 18th July 2008. Sincera Productions, dir: John Terry.

Re-staged at UEA Studio, Norwich, as part of UEA's 50th Anniversary Festival, 28th September 2013. UEA Drama Department / UEA Drama Society, dir: Rob Henderson.

The company of Uncertainty. Photo by Tom Morton-Smith.

The company of Uncertainty. Photo by Tom Morton-Smith.

The Hygiene Hypothesis

A look at a very modern malady; allergy. Taking the viewpoints of a doctor, a mother, a sufferer and a man who believes he has the cure for all immunological conditions, THE HYGIENE HYPOTHESIS is a thought-provoking, touching and often hilarious look at asthma, allergy and anaphylaxis.

First performed at Theatre 503, London, 1st July 2007. Sincera Productions, dir: John Terry. Transferred to the Latitude Arts Festival, Suffolk, 14th July 2007. Sincera Productions, dir: John Terry.

Alice Hutcheson and Philip Desmeules / photo by Jack Ladenburg

Alice Hutcheson and Philip Desmeules / photo by Jack Ladenburg

Salt Meets Wound

Dylan Singer needs to leave London. With his alcoholic ex-fiancée he heads to Central Asia, to research the book he's always dreamt of writing. But it's 2002, the height of the War on Terror, and Uzbekistan isn't the belly-dancing opium den they have been led to believe. From 11th Century Samarkand, through the Great Fire of London, to a disused weapons facility in the remotest place on earth, Salt Meets Wound is an epic odyssey spanning a thousand years.

First performed at Theatre503, London, 8th May 2007. Theatre503, dir: Paul Robinson.

Catherine Cusack as Nicola / photo by Jack Ladenburg

Catherine Cusack as Nicola / photo by Jack Ladenburg

Catherine Cusack and Rebecca O'Mara / photo by Jack Ladenburg

Catherine Cusack and Rebecca O'Mara / photo by Jack Ladenburg

Short Plays

Selected short plays: Of Being Alone in a Forest (The Miniaturists, 2016), Oscilloscopes (HighTide / Invertigo, 2013), Short Plays by Tom Morton-Smith (Soho Theatre, 2013), Blue (Soho Theatre / Blast Off!, 2012), The Earthworks (Arcola / The Miniaturists, 2012), Abandonment (RichMix / SoundBites, 2012), Dog Faced Boy (Latitude Festival / Playlist, 2011), Foreground (Latitude Festival / Playlist / Theatre503, 2010), Lightly Fry the Green Turtle (Liverpool Everyman / Paines Plough, 2008), Puffins (Nabokov / Present:Tense, 2008), Origins (DryWrite / Hampstead Theatre, 2007), 12 Metres from the Seabed (350 from the Shore) (Paines Plough / Shakespeare's Globe, 2007), Rodeo (Royal Court Theatre, 2006).