While we wait for the final season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” we’ve learned this week that the live stage play “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” is coming to Broadway.
The critically acclaimed, Olivier Award-winning, “mega five-star hit” (Sunday Times) play will begin performances Friday, March 28, 2025 and officially open Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre (210 West 46th Street).
Based on an original story by the Duffer Brothers, Jack Thorne and Kate Trefry, and rooted in the mythology and world of the Netflix global phenomenon, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” is a new play written by Kate Trefry, directed by Stephen Daldry and co-directed by Justin Martin.
“Stranger Things: The First Shadow” is described as “a new story live on stage,” and it’s set in Hawkins, 1959. “The First Shadow” takes place “before the world turned upside down.”
Hailed by the Daily Telegraph as “The West End Event of the Year” and the recipient of nineteen 5-star reviews and twelve 4-star reviews, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” opened in its world premiere production at the Phoenix Theatre in London’s West End, where it is currently breaking box office records and is now on sale through February 16, 2025.
The cast includes Louis McCartney (Silent Roar, Hope Street, Game of Thrones) as Henry Creel, Ella Karuna Williams (The Equalizer) as Patty Newby and Patrick Vaill (Oklahoma!, Macbeth, Dash & Lily) as Dr. Brenner.
Oscar Lloyd (The 47th, Hotel Portofino, 4 O’Clock Club) takes on the role as Jim Hopper, Jr., Isabella Pappas (Finding Alice, The Villains of Valley View, The Nether) is Joyce Maldonado (Joyce Byers’ maiden name) and Christopher Buckley (David Copperfield, Orphans, Stig of the Dump) plays Bob Newby.
Then there’s Michael Jibson (Bodies, The Essex Serpent, Hamilton) as Victor Creel and Lauren Ward (Dear Evan Hansen, Matilda the Musical, Caroline, or Change) as Virginia Creel, Shane Attwooll (Wonder Woman 1984, Legend, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot) as Chief Hopper, Kemi Awoderu as Sue Anderson (Sue Sinclair’s maiden name), and Chase Brown as Lonnie Byers. Ammar Duffus plays Charles Sinclair, while Gilles Geary is Ted Wheeler and Florence Guy is Karen Childress (Karen Wheeler’s maiden name). Max Harwood plays Allen Munson, Matthew Pidgeon is Father Newby, Calum Ross is Walter Henderson, and Maisie Norma Seaton takes on the role of Claudia Henderson.
Tricia Adele-Turner, Lauren Arney, Reya-Nyomi Brown, Patricia Castro, Lydia Fraser, Isaac Gryn, Mark Hammersley, Tom Peters, Kingdom Sibanda, Tiana Simone, Danny Sykes and Meesha Turner are featured as well.
Here’s the official plot synopsis…
“Hawkins, 1959: a regular town with regular worries. 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 get the hell out of 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.
“Brought to life by a multi-award-winning creative team, who take theatrical storytelling and stagecraft to a whole new dimension, this gripping new adventure will take you right back to the beginning of the Stranger Things story – and may hold the key to the end.”