Two Singaporeans Star As Leads In West End’s My Neighbour Totoro For The First Time

Two actresses have just made history as the first Singaporean duo to play lead roles in a West End production.

On May 19, 2026, Victoria Chen and Rachel Clare Chan took the stage as sisters Mei and Satsuki in Royal Shakespeare Company’s My Neighbour Totoro. This marked the first time two Singaporeans performed together in lead roles at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in London, United Kingdom.

Chen, who graduated from the School of the Arts (SOTA) in 2012, has been playing the character of four-year-old Mei since March 2025, but Chan was recently designated the first understudy for protective elder sister Satsuki.

The 24-year-old will deputise for UK-based Helen Chong on scheduled dates during the current run that is slated to end on Aug 30, with scenes including a six-minute piggyback sequence when Satsuki first meets giant spirit Totoro at the bus stop.

See also: 8 Facts About Nathania Ong, Singapore’s West End Theatre Star

Chan tells The Straits Times from London: “Satsuki has such a delicious character arc. The journey from where she begins to where she ends up is immense. I’ve had so much fun stepping into the role of the big sister, and it feels particularly special to lead a West End show alongside another Singaporean, playing sisters.”

In the 2025/2026 run that was supposed to end in March, Chan understudied Chen as Mei. With this new turn, she becomes the first actor to have played all three principal women in My Neighbour Totoro: Mei, Satsuki and Voice of the Wind, Kaze no Koe.

“I’ve always had an interest in putting on many different hats in a show. It keeps my job as an actor interesting and I find the variety such a thrill. Satsuki was my last big role to tick off, and it does feel special to make some small kind of personal history with the show as well.”

Chen believes Satsuki is where Chan’s talents best shine, and adds: “I really hope Singaporeans are proud of us and that this shows that storytelling and bringing joy and hope to the world is just as worthy a mission and profession as any other.”

The puppet-heavy production is based on Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s 1988 Studio Ghibli film of the same name, an animist tale of two girls who find comfort and adventure in unseen spirits while their mother is hospitalised.

The giant furry spirit Totoro is Studio Ghibli’s mascot, with the story also featuring the beloved cat bus. To play the physically demanding role of Satsuki, Chan is focused on getting stronger and maintaining her health.

More used to being the youngest sister to her four brothers and an older sister, she is drawing on her relationship with her eight nephews and nieces. “My big family has helped me relate to that protectiveness and care-taking role.”

The 2025/2026 run before it was extended also involved two other Singaporeans: Amber Lin as puppeteer, who will now double as Mei’s teacher Miss Hara in some shows, and Alicia Quah as assistant stage manager.

Chen, who declined to give her age, is a graduate of SOTA and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and has acted in productions with Singapore theatre companies Wild Rice, Checkpoint Theatre and Toy Factory Productions.

Chan was a student at musical theatre group Sing’theatre’s academy and left the country at 19 to perform in a production of Miss Saigon in Vienna, Austria.

West End’s My Neighbour Totoro was adapted by English playwright Tom Morton-Smith and is the winner of six Olivier Awards. It features an all-Asian cast.

This article first appeared in The Straits Times.