Studio Ghibli film's 1st stage play adaptation to show in April 2013

Studio Ghibli annnounced on Tuesday that the anime film Princess Mononoke will receive its first stage play adaptation by the Leamington Spa, Warwickshire theater company Whole Hog Theatre. Performances will be held at London's New Diorama Theatre at 7:30 p.m. from April 2 to April 6, 2013. Tickets are currently available for pre-order on New Diorama Theatre's website for 13.80 pounds sterling (about US$21.60).

In cooperation with Studio Ghibli, the project has been in development for over a year. Performances will feature giant puppets made from recycled materials as well as original live music.

Whole Hog Theatre summarizes the story as follows:

Young warrior Ashitaka is a marked man. Cursed by a demon god while defending his village, he must leave his home forever to seek a cure. In the forbidding forests to the west, he is forced to reconcile the warring human forces and the animal deities of times past. In the midst of this bitter and bloody conflict, he meets the wolf god Moro and her human child San: Princess Mononoke.

Written and directed by Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, the original Princess Mononoke anime film premiered in Japan in 1997.