‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ review: How does Netflix do the stage?
It’s going to be an age until we see any more of Hawkins on our screens. With Netflix’s Stranger Things Season 5 probably looking like a 2025 release, fans of the Duffer Brothers’ series have a long wait for answers. Luckily, the Upside Down has sprouted new tentacles in London’s West End, with an official Stranger Things play debuting this week at the Phoenix Theatre — and it’s a prequel to the series.
Directed by Stephen Daldry with Justin Martin, Stranger Things: The First Shadow was written by Stranger Things writer and co-executive producer Kate Trefry. The narrative is based on a story by Trefry, the Duffer Brothers, and The Cursed Child‘s Jack Thorne, so there’s plenty of space to both stick to canon and make pure stage magic. It’s a truly wondrous technical achievement, blending stage and screen seamlessly with remarkable performances from a young cast — a fitting combination for Netflix’s stage debut.
We might have to wait for what happens to Max, El, and the gang, but at least we know a little more about what happened before Henry Creel became Vecna, the Battle of Starcourt mall went down, and Will Byers disappeared through that wall. How does Netflix do the stage? Let’s get into it.
What is Stranger Things: The First Shadow about?
While the Stranger Things seasons take place from 1983 to 1986, the play winds that tormented grandfather clock back to 1959, where a teen Joyce Maldonado (Isabella Pappas) is directing a high school play, teen Jim Hopper (Oscar Lloyd) is on his first investigative beat, and teen Bob Newby (Christopher Buckley) is the master of his own DIY radio show.
They’re all finding their way at Hawkins High School, along with a bunch of our favourite Stranger Things characters’ future parents including Eddie’s dad Alan Munson (Max Harwood), Lucas’ parents Sue (Kemi Awoderu) and Charles Sinclair (Ammar Duffus), Will and Jonathan’s dad Lonnie Byers (Chase Brown), Nancy and Mike’s parents Karen (Florence Guy) and Ted Wheeler (Gilles Geary), and Dustin’s parents Claudia (Maisie Norma Seaton) and Walter Henderson (Calum Ross) — no, they’re not all paired up at this point, but yes, people in Hawkins really didn’t look beyond their own classmates for dates, apparently.
If you remember the flashbacks from Stranger Things Season 4, it’s also the year the Creels moved to Hawkins, including their spooky son Henry (Louis McCartney) who goes on to become Number One, the all-important test subject in Dr. Brenner’s project in the Hawkins National Lab. As Henry struggles to fit in at school while resisting the impending forces of the Upside Down, he meets a kindred spirit in Patty Newby (Ella Karuna Williams), Bob’s sister, who is navigating her own feelings of belonging. But as Henry’s powers grow, his grip on reality begins to splinter, and everyone around him (his doomed family included) is in danger as strange and gruesome things start happening around Hawkins — as they do.
We’ve seen a significant portion of Creel’s story in Stranger Things Season 4, but the addition of what was happening at Hawkins High School at the time, as well as his connection to Patty, rounds out the narrative. And it’s these strange occurrences that give the play its winning element: marvellous stagecraft.
Stranger Things: The First Shadow is a technical marvel
It’s not overkill to compare The First Shadow to The Cursed Child for its exceptional stagecraft — there’s a lot of alumni here beyond Thorne, including technical director Gary Beestone, and illusions and visual effects designers Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher.
Like its Harry Potter predecessor, The First Shadow‘s stagecraft is nothing short of magic, a flawless technical array of projection mapping and pyrotechnics, and Tony/Olivier-winning lighting designer Jon Clark does wonders with the space. The play’s stunning opening sequence envelops the audience with enough effects to make William Castle squeal, and the impact is full immersion in the world of Hawkins and the looming Upside Down. Hardcore theatre lovers may take issue with the amount of screens involved with the production, enabling backdrops and even establishing shots before the stage action begins, but this is a Netflix production after all.
With gorgeous set design by Miriam Buether, characters are manoeuvred around on a rotating stage in vignettes, offering small glimmers of story, or highlighted in raised platform windows — the Creel House attic set is a particular highlight. To complete the immersion, the team’s manipulation of sound truly channels that Stranger Things substance, with sound designer Paul Arditti using the crackling static of radios, buzzing lights, and enhanced vocals to create onstage horror. The First Shadow really flexes its horror muscle with finesse, which is no mean feat on the stage. There are some gruesome reveals and terrific jump scares in the play that remind you this Netflix series might star kids but it’s not necessarily for kids.
The First Shadow‘s young cast is pure gold
The Last Shadow boasts a formidable young cast, all of whom completely embody their versions of the Netflix series’ beloved characters. Pappas steals the show as young Joyce, completely owning her deadpan quips, perpetual frustration with idiots, and Hopper dress-downs as savvily as Winona Ryder in the series. And then there’s McCartney as Henry Creel. Making his stage debut, this young actor has a particularly tough job as the tormented antagonist, having to embody the Upside Down’s monstrous takeover of his mind with his own physical performance, elevated with effects but still mostly McCartney — and this show is three hours long with interval. The consistent credibility he brings to this extremely complex, dark character at length is a marvel in itself.
Fellow leads Buckley and Lloyd as Bob and Hopper are outright hilarious with their comedic timing and physical staging of Sean Astin and David Harbour’s characters — Lloyd gets a particularly funny interrogation scene which brought the house down. Williams is delightfully engaging and earnest as Patty, the one person who really makes time for Henry, bonding with him over their shared social anxiety and love of Captain Midnight. And Patrick Vaill makes for a formidable Brenner, bringing an almost Michael Shannon energy to his performance.
Beyond the leads, the superb supporting cast make whole worlds of their own characters, bestowing them with little flourishes to connect to their future kids — Everybody’s Talking About Jamie star Harwood consistently steals the spotlight as Eddie Munson’s melodramatic “method actor” father, even including a little Eddie-style devil horns moment.
Stranger Things: The First Shadow sticks to canon
One area that Stranger Things fans will be keeping a keen eye on is how close to canon the story sticks. It’s in safe hands given the story was written by Trefry alongside the Duffer Brothers. Various events occur that we’ve seen in the flashbacks of Season 4, especially the fate of the Creel family and Henry’s journey to Vecnarisation, which all checks out. And there’s a few things cleared up, especially Joyce and Hopper’s teen romance, which is only hinted at in the show. As for Bob, the play slightly changes the tune by making Joyce and Bob friends in high school — in the show, Joyce doesn’t remember Bob from school, but it’s been 25 years.
The play involves characters like Hopper, Joyce, and Bob in the story’s more Upside Down-related events, though they’re removed enough from them to make their reactions make sense in the series — Hopper investigates the Vecna-foreshadowing crimes in the play, but he’s in Russia by the time they start happening in Season 4; Joyce doesn’t actually see any of the supernatural happenings in the play, so she wouldn’t immediately think of them when her own son disappears into a wall in 1983.
All in all, Stranger Things: The First Shadow is an exceptional achievement in technical stagecraft, boasting a talented, engaging cast, and showing us an earlier side of Hawkins we’re only given glimpses of in the series. It’s really a story for fans, so newcomers to the franchise might be left a little confused starting with the play. But Netflix’s first stage show proves that Netflix money can transcend mediums, provided a talented group is behind it. If you’re in London and you’re a fan of Stranger Things, you’re going to want to catch this show.
Stranger Things: The First Shadow runs Nov. 17, 2023 to August 25, 2024 at the Phoenix Theatre in London. Tickets from the play’s website.