LONDON – A stage adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s 1988 animated film, My Neighbour Totoro, was the big winner at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, picking up six prizes at Britain’s top theatre extravaganza.
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) critically acclaimed production, based on the much-loved film by Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki about two sisters who discover friendly forest spirits when they move to a new country house with their father in post-war Japan, had led nominations with nine nods.
It won Best Entertainment or Comedy Play as well as Best Director for Phelim McDermott, Best Set Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Sound Design and Best Costume Design.
The show was a crowd-pleaser in London, thanks partly to featuring several giant, fantastical puppets – including a furry Catbus that is part motor vehicle, part feline.
“My Neighbour Totoro is a story about kindness, courage and imagination and we will forever be grateful for the kindness, courage and imagination of the extraordinary people that came together to make this production,” Ms Griselda Yorke, executive producer at the RSC, said.
A revival of American playwright Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire won three awards at the event that celebrates the best shows in the capital and is named after famed British actor Laurence Olivier.
It won Best Revival, Best Actor for Paul Mescal for his role as Stanley Kowalski and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Anjana Vasan, for her portrayal of Stella.
“I just have to thank Tennessee Williams. He gave us magic instead of realism and that’s what we all needed,” director Rebecca Frecknall, who in 2022 won Best Director for Cabaret, said.
Standing At The Sky’s Edge, about three families living for a period of over 60 years in a council housing estate in the English city of Sheffield, won Best New Musical and Best Original Score or New Orchestrations for musician Richard Hawley and composer Tom Deering.
Killing Eve (2018 to 2022) star Jodie Comer won Best Actress in one-woman play Prima Facie, in which she portrays a barrister who defends men accused of sexual assault before being assaulted herself.
The production was named Best New Play and Comer, who won rave reviews for her West End debut, reprises the role on Broadway in April.
“This play has changed my life so much,” the 30-year-old said in her acceptance speech.
A new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! won Best Musical Revival and Best Actor in a Musical for Arthur Darvill. Katie Brayben won the Best Actress equivalent for musical Tammy Faye.
Other honourees included veteran actor and two-time Olivier winner Derek Jacobi, who was given a Lifetime Achievement Award.
“It feels wonderful particularly to be given an award in his name because he was a vital part of my early career,” Jacobi, 84, said. REUTERS, NYTIMES
