Further details about the Netflix play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, have been revealed.
The 2023 production in London’s West End which is set 20 years earlier than the events of Netflix’s hit science fiction horror drama series, Stranger Things, will follow existing characters Jim Hopper, Bob Newby and Henry Creel when they were younger.
Stranger Things TV series writer and co-executive producer Kate Trefry has written the play and it was directed by The Crown’s Stephen Daldry with co-director Prima Facie’s Justin Martin.
On Wednesday, the producers said the new story will open in 1959 in Hawkins as a young Hopper’s car fails to start, Newby’s sister does not take his radio show seriously and Joyce Maldonado tries to graduate and leave.
A new Stranger Things story...
— Stranger Things On Stage (@STOnStage) February 28, 2023
Tomorrow. 11am GMT.#StrangerThingsOnStage pic.twitter.com/le7tzkvV3j
Teasing the new play, the producers said a new student, Creel, arrives and his family find “a fresh start isn’t so easy… and the shadows of the past have a very long reach” as the beginning of Stranger Things “may hold the key to the end”.
Matt and Ross Duffer, who are the creators, directors and executive producers of the Netflix series, said: “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.
“We’re dying to tell you more about the story but won’t – it’s more fun to discover it for yourself. Can’t wait to see you nerds in London.”
It’s produced by Netflix and Sonia Friedman Productions as Duffer Brothers act as creative producers and Stranger Things producer 21 Laps serve as associate producers.
Sonia Friedman, whose company produced the Harry Potter And The Cursed Child play, said London will host the “incredible story” for now as a “world class creative team” builds on the Duffer Brothers “boundless imagination to dream up an unbelievably exciting theatrical event for our audiences”.
Greg Lombardo, VP Live Experiences for Netflix said: “Stranger Things has captured the imagination of fans around the world and we are incredibly thrilled to expand this exciting universe with Netflix’s first live stage production.”
Stranger Things has run for four seasons with fans seeing police chief Hopper being played by David Harbour while Sean Astin took on the role of Radioshack manager Newby.
Jamie Campbell Bower and Raphael Luce portrayed Creel.
How to buy tickets to Stranger Things: The First Shadow
If you can’t get enough of the Netflix series, here’s how you can see it take to the stage in London.
The play will open in late 2023 at the Phoenix Theatre in London.
Fans can register for ticket access via the Stranger Things On Stage website.
The date of ticket sales has not yet been announced but details are expected to be revealed in April.
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