Last night I was excited to finally see the official Stranger Things stage show, which is titled Stranger Things The First Shadow. The show acts as an official preview to the Netflix show and is completely canon to the show. Running at what I believe was around two and a half hours, the show feels like watching a mini event series which shows you the origin events of the 80s set series.
As a warning, this review will contain spoilers to discuss what did and didn’t work in the show, and how the show connects to events of the TV show is based on.
Set initially during the 1940s, the show opens with a short bumper sequence showing events on board a military ship during World War II. The crew find themselves exposed to a strange incident which will be reminiscent of what the characters in the TV face when they venture into the upside down. The upside down being the parallel dimension version of Earths which is like a hell scape. We’re treated to an appearance from a Demogorgon and lots of gunfire in what is an exhilarating opening, before the show starts with the full intro sequence of the TV Show. This includes the famous theme and a projection of the title sequence which instantly makes you feel like you’re in the world of Stranger Things.
The main story of the show then picks up in the late 1950s where we’re introduced to a lot of familiar characters and names from the TV Show. We meet Joyce, played here by Jessica Rhodes, who is played in the TV show by Winona Ryder, and I’ll give credit to the cast that they go the route of keeping the characterisation and voices of the well-known characters as close to the TV show as possible. On this front they do a great job, as to be honest, most people who’d want to see this show are there to see an expansion of the TV show.
We soon are introduced to Jim Hopper, played by George Smale, in his pre-cop days where we learn that he doesn’t get along with his cop father. We also meet Bob who would famously be played by Sean Aston in season two of the show, and these three round out the characters who do the kind of Scooby Doo investigative adventuring that Mike, Dustin and Lucas do in the TV show.
After this the main characters are equally Bob’s adoptive sister Patty, and Henry Creel, who, and I’ve already given the spoiler warning, will become the show’s main villain Vecna.
I was really curious going into the show, how they would have characters like Joyce, Bob and Hopper all involved in a story with monsters and “strange things” when their older TV versions would then know nothing about all the strange stuff they’d encounter when they get older.
Fans of the show who have watched through the end of Season 4 will know that Henry Creel becomes Vecna, and the main plot of this shows his transformation. It’s a familiar feel of lots of prequel stories where we see an origin story of how someone seemingly good or innocent enough slowly becomes a monster.
The effects on display in this some are some of the most impressive I’ve seen on stage. Everything feels big budget and like they’ve pulled out every trick in the book to make the show a spectacle.
There isn’t tons in way of actual physical set for a lot of the show. And I say that even though there is plenty throughout. It’s just that they use revolving sections of stage to quickly moves lots of small pieces in and out and these are really effective for the TV like presentation of the proceedings which have lots and lots of short scenes.
The show uses both front and back projection to great effect. Often, you’ll get red beams of line rise up and fall down in opposite directions. This come accompanied by big dramatic sound cues, and as a sign that projections are incoming. This allows them to have the actors interact with clouds of smoke and versions of the upside down creatures.
One of the scariest effects in the show is lifted straight from season four of the TV show and it’s how you see characters get killed by being crunched and contorted and bend out of shape. We see this happen with a cat made to float in the air, and later to Henry’s family as he loses control. It was a scary and memorable effect in the TV show and to see it happen live on stage is even more impressive…and disgusting.
One of the plots early in the show involves Joyce being the director of a high school play, and running auditions which Patty and Henry both end up getting cast in. This is despite neither wanting to be in the play. From this sequence we’re introduced to a bunch of side characters in the show, and this includes some familiar names from the TV show, but these are mostly just there for fan service and comic relief.
I was slightly disappointed when there were a couple of musical numbers included in the show. These were based around the school play, and also from the introduction of the idea that Patty’s real mother, whom she doesn’t know, is revealed to be a singer. Henry uses his powers to help locate her and we see some of this sequence through a song that Patty sings. It does feel like someone on the creative team was too afraid to make a big budget West End show and now crowbar a song in somewhere.
I may have to give this some more thought, but since seeing the show, I have wondered how well people who hadn’t watched the TV show would be able to understand or enjoy everything in the stage play. I can say for certainty that all the fan service and some reveals would be lost on an audience member without knowing the show. The introduction of Dr Brenna, AKA Papa is giving as the pre-interval cliff hanger and truthfully, if you didn’t know the TV show the introduction of a Doctor wouldn’t feel a big deal.
Likewise, the ending of the show skips forwards a number of years and we learn that eventually Henry would be the first of several children experimented on by Papa, and this leads directly into a moment previously explored in season 4 where Henry first meets Eleven. If you hadn’t seen the TV show I’m not sure you’d get what is significant about him being introduced to a little girl with a buzz cut, but as a fan of the show, it is a very exciting way to end the show.
The show does rely on the audience bridging a few gaps in their mind’s eye in this regard, but again, Stranger Things is such a big hit that this was a safe bet for them to include.
Conclusion
Overall, I think the show is an excellent addition to the Stranger Things universe and doesn’t let down the franchise or feel lesser than the TV show at all. I also believe that even though the show definitely leans into an expectation that probably most audience members will know the show this prequels, I feel that even if you didn’t know the TV series, you’d still be in for a very exciting, thrilling and often scary stage show that is equal parts well told and acted story, and grand spectacle.
As a play this demonstrates exactly the right way to adapt a TV or film property to stage without just retreading the same stories already told on screen. I believe this was announced as the first of three Stranger Things plays coming in a series, and whilst I don’t know when future chapters will come to stage, it’ll be exciting to see what they do with the franchise next.
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