Fans of beloved animation giant Studio Ghibli have no doubt enjoyed a viewing of legendary director Hayao Miyazaki's Academy Award-winning classic, Spirited Away, on multiple viewings. They'll now have a chance to relive the masterpiece in an all new form, as it's been announced that Spirited Away will receiving its first ever stage adaptation.

Backed by major Japanese entertainment company Toho and given Miyazaki's blessing, the stage play will be written and directed by Tony and Olivier Award-winner John Caird (Les Misérables, Nicholas Nickleby, Daddy Long Legs), an Honorary Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and will be making its world stage premiere at Imperial Theatre in Tokyo for a February to March 2022 run, Toho states.

Both Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki have given Caird a vote of confidence with the adaptation, with Suzuki saying "John is a good guy. Both Miyazaki and I are fond of him...we'd like him to grow Spirited Away bigger on the stage," Suzuki adds that Caird was particularly delighted when gifted a No Face piggy bank, showing is fandom.

The role of protagonist Chihiro will be double cast featuring singer and actress Kanna Hashimoto (Assassination Classroom, Gintama), making her stage debut, and Mone Kamishiraishi, a singer and actress who voiced the lead role in massive anime hit, Your Name.

Kanna Hashimoto

Mone Kamishiraishi

The production is set to first run at the Tokyo Imperial Theater in February and March, before touring Osaka (April), Fukuoka (May), Sapporo (June) and Nagoya (June and July), according to Oricon News.