What We Know so Far About STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW

UPDATED AUGUST 2024

As BroadwayWorld just confirmed, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the West End stage show based on the popular Netflix series, is officially heading to Broadway in 2025. What do we know so far about the show?

This new play by Kate Trefry, a writer and co-executive producer for the TV series of Stranger Things, is rooted in the mythology and world of the Netflix global phenomenon. The play is not to be confused with Stranger Sings!, which is an off-Broadway musical parody of the Netflix series.

The science fiction horror drama television series was created by the Duffer Brothers and released on July 15, 2016. The second and third season followed in October 2017 and July 2019 respectively, and the fourth season aired in two parts in May and July 2022. 

Stranger Things Season 4 is one of Netflix’s Most Popular English TV series of all time with an astounding 141M views (1.84B view hours) in its first 91 days. It was the second title in Netflix history to cross the billion hour viewing mark in its first 91 days. The season reached the Top 10 in 93 countries and featured on the list for 19 weeks. Stranger Things Season 5 is currently in production.

The stage show is 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.

The play began previews in the West End on November 17, 2023, and officially opened on December 14 at the Phoenix Theatre. Check out what the critics had to say.

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.

The play is directed by Stephen Daldry with co-director Justin Martin, set design by Miriam Buether, costume design by Brigitte Reiffenstuel, lighting design by Jon Clark, sound design by Paul Arditti, illusions design by Jamie Harrison & Chris Fisher, video design by 59 Productions, movement direction by Coral Messam, wigs, hair and make-up design by Campbell Young Associates, casting by Charlotte Sutton CDG, international casting consultancy by Jim Carnahan, Gary Beestone for Gary Beestone Associates is Technical Director.

The London cast includes: Shane Attwooll, Kemi Awoderu, Chase Brown,  Christopher  Buckley, Ammar Duffus,  Gilles Geary, Florence Guy, Max Harwood, Michael  Jibson, Oscar  Lloyd, Louis McCartney, Isabella Pappas, Matthew Pidgeon (Father Newby), Calum Ross,  Maisie Norma Seaton,  Patrick Vaill, Lauren Ward (Virginia Creel), Ella Karuna Williams; with 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.

No further details have been released about the rumored trilogy that BroadwayWorld also reported on in December. The rumor is that a part two of Stranger Things will hit the stage in 2026 with a part three set for 2028, but Deadline reports that this is not set in stone at this time.

The Broadway production will begin performances Friday, March 28, 2025 and officially open Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre. Casting has not yet been announced.