After dominating streaming for years, Stranger Things is heading to a very different platform – the stages of London’s West End. Deadline revealed last year that Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers had teamed up with legendary theater and film director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours) to create a stage play entitled Stranger Things: The First Shadow, and today the first teaser has been revealed.
The synopsis reveals that the play – set to begin its run at the Phoenix Theatre later this year – will return to the roots of Hawkins’ dark secrets:
The First Shadow is set in Stranger Things’ home of Hawkins in 1959, around 25 years before the smash hit TV series. Young Jim Hopper’s car won’t start, Bob Newby’s sister won’t take his radio show seriously and Joyce Maldonado just wants to graduate and leave town. When new student Henry Creel arrives, his family finds that a fresh start isn’t so easy and the shadows of the past have a very long reach.
According to Deadline, Daldry has spent a year ‘working with masters of illusion to develop magic tricks and special effects for the play.‘ Joining him in directing is award-winning theater director Justin Martin (Prima Facie), and Stranger Things production company 21 Laps will produce alongside Netflix and the prolific theater producer Sonia Friedman (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). Stranger Things writer Kate Trefry is penning the play based on an original story by the Duffers and His Dark Materials scribe Jack Thorne.
In a statement, the Duffer Brothers expressed their excitement for the upcoming production:
“Collaborating with the brilliant Stephen Daldry has been nothing short of inspiring, and Kate Trefry has written a play that is at turns surprising, scary, and heartfelt…You will meet endearing new characters, as well as very familiar ones, on a journey into the past that sets the groundwork for the future of Stranger Things.”
Stranger Things: The First Shadow is one confirmed project to come from last year’s reveal that the Duffer Brothers had a bunch of new Stranger Things projects on the slab, including a spin-off that Ross Duffer teased will be “1,000% different” from the current show.
No news yet sadly on when The First Shadow will start a Stateside run, but given the popularity of the show we don’t think it’ll be too long before it hits Broadway. If you’re UK based – or a die-hard overseas fan willing to travel – you can find more information on tickets here, and check out the official teaser below!
