All-Asian cast of Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbour Totoro on British stage feels like a breakthrough

Cast members believe Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation of Studio Ghibli film signifies a change in British theatre and hope it inspires East Asian actors

East Asian performers have long been marginalised in British theatre, often appearing in token roles, a form of institutional racism dubbed the ‘bamboo ceiling’

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Mei Mac (left) as Mei, and Ami Okumura Jones as Satsuki, in My Neighbour Totoro. The play has been praised for boosting East Asian visibility in British theatre. Photo: Twitter/@totoro_show

Published: 5:24pm, 14 Nov 2022

Actors of East and Southeast Asian heritage have long remained in the shadows of British performing arts, competing for stereotypical or often token roles with few opportunities to grab the limelight.

So when My Neighbour Totoro, a new play produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) based on Hayao Miyazaki’s 1988 Japanese animation, came along with a cast entirely comprising British East and Southeast Asian actors, it felt like a milestone had been achieved, members of the play’s creative team say.

“It was moving to walk in on day one and see so many faces like mine … and if that’s happened before in this country and in this industry, it’s only happened a couple of times,” says Ami Okumura Jones, who stars as Satsuki in the play about two sisters who move to rural Japan and befriend Totoro, a magical forest spirit.

According to Okumura Jones – who has one white British and one Japanese parent – and other collaborators in the RSC’s high-profile production, the creative team is optimistic the play will incentivise more East Asian performers to raise their profiles in British theatre.

Mei Mac (left) as Mei, and Ami Okumura Jones (middle) as Satsuki, in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s My Neighbour Totoro. Photo: Twitter/@totoro_show

For decades, British East and Southeast Asian actors have complained about underrepresentation, marginalisation and stereotyping, particularly in television.