Danica Davidson
February 14, 2025 
Congrats to the Spirited Away stage play! Spirited Away: Live on Stage received the award for Best New Play at London’s 25th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards.
It was nominated for several other categories as well: Best Set Design, Best Costume Design, Best Supporting Performer, and Best Wig, Hair & Makeup Design. It didn’t nab any of these awards, but you could argue it nabbed a bigger award.
Between April and August 2024, the Spirited Away play could be watched at the London Coliseum theatre. The play has been performed in Japan, where it originated.
The play adaptation was both written and directed by John Caird, who is the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Honorary Associate Director, and whose previous credits include Les Misérables and Nicholas Nickleby.
It is possible to see the play without being in Japan or London. GKIDS offers the ability to see Japanese performances from 2022, with both Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi as Chihiro. You can stream it or get it for home video.
GKIDS also licensed the original Spirited Away movie and gave this description for it:
Winner of the Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature, Hayao Miyazaki‘s wondrous fantasy adventure is a dazzling masterpiece from one of the most celebrated filmmakers in the history of animation.
Chihiro’s family is moving to a new house, but when they stop on the way to explore an abandoned village, her parents undergo a mysterious transformation and Chihiro is whisked into a world of fantastic spirits ruled over by the sorceress Yubaba. Put to work in a magical bathhouse for spirits and demons, Chihiro must use all her wits to survive in this strange new place, find a way to free her parents and return to the normal world. Overflowing with imaginative creatures and thrilling storytelling, Spirited Away became a worldwide smash hit, and is one of the most critically-acclaimed films of all time.
Source: ANN
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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