Gillian Lynne Theatre

The show was fantastic - the acting, humor and puppetry were all first class.

I really wanted to love My Neighbour Totoro but in the end I found it more average than magical. It moved quite slowly, and while I understand that having adults play very young children is unavoidable, I found it a little off-putting and it sometimes made it harder to stay immersed in the story. There were certainly lovely moments, seeing Totoro and the other characters brought to life on stage was genuinely wonderful. But once that initial moment of magic passed it didn’t quite sustain the same sense of wonder for the whole performance. Overall it felt like there wasn’t quite enough of any one element: not quite enough fun, love, pathos or music to fully carry it. That said, the sets were excellent, crafted with great care and well used which added a lot visually to the production.

The live music and vocals, with the way the lighting builds up and how everything just flows was superb. Easily one of the best shows in London. The puppeteers were amazing, and the whole setup was like no other. I truly felt the joy of the Far-Eastern village and got to meet Totoro and friends in real life. The experience was so immersive I was in tears like 5 times, hoping not to start fully sobbing. Truly a masterpiece.