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BBC's Blue Peter Visits Totoro Stage Set

The venerable BBC children's programme Blue Peter featured the stage version of My Neighbor Totoro on a recent edition on June 19. In the programme, two girls visit the set and encounter Totoro himself.

The programme can be accessed by UK viewers on BBC iPlayer here, and extracts are shown on the X/Twitter feed of the Totoro play.

The Totoro story is the first item in the episode. In the item, two young sisters are given a surprise "VIP tour" of the play. They talk to the lead actors, explore the set, and talk to one of the stagehands responsible for the play's puppeteering. At the end of the segment, the girls summon the giant-sized (standing) Totoro puppet, which appears in the bus-stop scene in the play.

Blue Peter is the world's oldest children's programme, dating back to 1958. It is currently broadcast on CBBC and BBC iPlayer.

The Royal Shakespeare Company's stage version of My Neighbor Totoro is running at London's Gillian Lynne Theatre, near Holborn and Covent Garden underground stations, where it will end on January 10 2027. Tickets can be booked on the play's website, https://totoroshow.com/tickets/.

The play's current cast includes Helen Chong as Satsuki and Victoria Chen as Satsuki's sister Mei. The play won six awards at the Olivier Awards in April 2023, and was nominated for three more. The play had the most number of nominations and wins, with nine nominations and six wins. The play also won five awards at the theatrical WhatsOnStage Awards in February 2023.

The RSC describes the production on its website:

"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.

The original anime film My Neighbor Totoro is the story of two young sisters, Mei and Satsuki, who move to the countryside and encounter Totoro, wonderful creatures which only children can see.