‘My Neighbour Totoro’, Report from Year 10’s Willow
Last week, our Year 12 A level and Year 10 GCSE Drama students travelled to London to see My Neighbour Totoro at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. Year 10’s Willow shared her experience and enjoyment of the trip and the play.
Year 10’s Willow
My Neighbour Totoro was an absolute joy to watch.
Having seen the original movie it is based on, I can say the production captured the essence of childhood whimsy with ease; from the costumes to the puppets and the stage design itself.
The show was constantly moving, a massive highlight was the large house, made up of multiple set pieces so it could be pushed around to reveal the happenings inside and out.
I loved all the puppets and by extension the puppeteering, they felt like they were taken straight from the movie and there were so many of them! From fantasy creatures to a realistic goat, and of course, not to be forgotten, the nearly ten-foot-tall Totoro puppet. There was even a separate puppet for when he was asleep!
The acting was brilliant from every cast member, and they really solidified themselves as part of the fantastical world. There are a million more things I could say about how wonderful this show is but, to keep things short, it was fun, silly and I highly recommended it!
