SINGAPORE: Singaporean actress Victoria Chen will play the lead role of Mei in a stage adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s cult classic animated film My Neighbour Totoro (1988), which opens at London’s West End on March 8.
“In case my mother hasn’t told you yet, her daughter finally got a job,” Chen wrote on Instagram announcing her new role. The West End production will play at the Gillian Lynne Theatre for 34 weeks.
In a video posted by the show’s official Instagram account, she said: “It’s an absolute dream come true to be working alongside people like this and bringing the story to life every single day – or twice a day.”
Chen is not the first Singaporean to have been involved in the stage adaptation of My Neighbour Totoro. Singaporean puppeteer Bright Ong was part of Royal Shakespeare Company’s second production of My Neighbour Totoro in 2023.
Chen’s West End breakthrough comes on the heels of fellow Singaporean Nathania Ong clinching leading roles in London’s theatre scene.
Set in 1950s Japan, My Neighbour Totoro follows young sisters Mei and Satsuki as they relocate to the countryside to be closer to their mother, who is hospitalised for tuberculosis. In their new house, they encounter and befriend spirits, such as a giant furry forest chimera Totoro, which is also the official mascot for Studio Ghibli.
Based on influential Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s film, the play is adapted by English playwright Tom Morton-Smith and broke the Barbican Centre’s record for ticket sales in one day when it premiered in 2022. The show, which returned for another season in 2023, won six Olivier Awards.
Chen graduated from the School of the Arts in 2012 and was subsequently awarded a bachelor’s degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
She has acted in productions with Singapore theatre companies Wild Rice, Checkpoint Theatre and Toy Factory Productions, and has worked internationally in places such as China and Iceland. - The Straits Times/ANN
