Stranger Things on Stage! The First Shadow set 20 years before the events of the Netflix series focusing on Jim Hopper, Bob Newby and Henry Creel hits the West End
Stranger Things is coming to London’s West End.
The upcoming work, called Stranger Things: The First Shadow, is set 20 years before the first series of the Netflix sci-fi phenomenon.
The 2023 production will follow existing characters Jim Hopper, Bob Newby and Henry Creel when they were younger.
The new play is written by series writer and co-executive producer Kate Trefry and directed by The Crown’s Stephen Daldry with Prima Facie’s Justin Martin serving as co-director.
On Wednesday, producers said the play will open in 1959 Hawkins when a young Hopper’s car won’t start, Newby’s sister doesn’t take his radio show seriously and Joyce Maldonado tries to graduate and leave.
Set 20 years before the first series of the Netflix sci-fi phenomenon, Stranger Things: The First Shadow is coming to London’s West End (pictured David Ha
Exciting news! The 2023 production will follow existing characters Jim Hopper, Bob Newby and Henry Creel when they were younger (pictured creators Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer and series writer and co-executive producer Kate Trefry)
Leading up to the new play, the producers said a new student, Creel, arrives, and his family discovers that “a new beginning is not so easy…and the shadows of the past reach very far.”
They teased that the beginning of Stranger Things “may be the key to the end”.
Matt and Ross Duffer, who are the creators of the Netflix series, said, “You’ll meet endearing new characters, as well as some very familiar ones, on a journey back in time that sets the stage for the future of Stranger Things.”
We’re dying to tell you more about the story, but we won’t; it’s more fun to find out for yourself. I can’t wait to see you nerds in London.
It is produced by Netflix and Sonia Friedman Productions with the Duffer Brothers serving as creative producers.
Sonia Friedman, whose company produced the hit Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, said London will host the “incredible story” for now.
A ‘world-class creative team’ has drawn on the ‘limitless imaginations of the Duffer brothers to dream up an incredibly exciting theatrical event for our audiences’.
Greg Lombardo, Vice President of Live Experiences for Netflix, said: “Stranger Things has captured the imagination of fans around the world and we are incredibly excited to expand this exciting universe with Netflix’s first live theatrical production.”
Plot: Producers said Wednesday the play will open in 1959 Hawkins when a young Hopper’s car won’t start, Newby’s sister doesn’t take her radio show seriously, and Joyce Maldonado tries to graduate and leave (in the photo, Jamie Campbell Bower as Henry Creel)
Exciting: The creators teased that the beginning of Stranger Things “may be the key to the end” (Pictured Bob Newby)
During the streaming giant’s series, which has run for four seasons, David Harbor played Police Chief Hopper, Sean Astin took on the role of Radioshack manager Newby, and Jamie Campbell Bower and Raphael Luce played Creel.
Fans can register for tickets to Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which is based on an original story by the Duffer brothers, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child writer Jack Thorne and Trefry, here www.strangerthingsonstage.com .
Details of when tickets will go on sale in the spring will be announced next month. The play will open in late 2023 at the Phoenix Theater in London.