Stranger Things on Stage Trailer Teases Beginning of the Story

Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the upcoming Stranger Things stage play, has released a new teaser setting it up as a foundational prequel for the hit Netflix series. The new teaser (following the cryptic one released in February) opens with a retro-style television showing the cataclysmic events that ended Stanger Things Season 4. Events then rewind through all four seasons of the show and beyond, showing Vecna’s origin story. A previously released teaser poster for Stranger Things: The Frist Shadow featured the year “1959,” the same year that the Creel family, including young Henry Creel, moved to Hawkins, Indiana. Henry would develop unusual powers, eventually becoming One and later Vecna.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow will revisit Henry Creel’s origin story. You can see the new teaser below.

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What is Stranger Things: The First Shadow stage play about?

Stranger Things The First Shadow will go back to where the story of Stranger Things really began, with Henry Creel moving to Hawkins, Indiana. The play teases that “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.” Stranger Things: The First Shadow will also offer a look into the youths of beloved Stranger Things characters Jim Hopper, Joyce Byers, née Maldonado, and Bob Newby. Here’s the official synopsis for the play:

“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.”

Stephen Daldry is directing Stranger Things: The First Shadow 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 & visual effects by Jamie Harrison & Chris Fisher, video design & visual effects by 59 Productions, movement direction by Coral Messam, wigs, hair and make-up design by Campbell Young Associates, casting by Jessica Ronane CDG CSA, international casting consultancy by Jim Carnahan, with Gary Beestone for Gary Beestone Associates is Technical Director. Stranger Things: The First Shadow is based on a story by Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers.

“Collaborating with the brilliant Stephen Daldry has been nothing short of inspiring, and Kate Trefry has written a play that is at turns surprising, scary, and heartfelt,” Matt and Ross Duffer said in a statement. “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.”Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the upcoming Stranger Things stage play headed to London’s West End, has released a new teaser setting it up as a foundational prequel for the hit Netflix series. The new teaser (following the cryptic one released in February) opens with a retro-style television showing the cataclysmic events that ended Stanger Things Season 4. Events then rewind through all four seasons of the show and beyond, showing Vecna’s origin story. A previously released teaser poster for Stranger Things: The Frist Shadow featured the year “1959,” the same year that the Creel family, including young Henry Creel, moved to Hawkins, Indiana. Henry would develop unusual powers, eventually becoming One and later Vecna.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow will revisit Henry Creel’s origin story. You can see the new teaser below.

View on X

What is Stranger Things: The First Shadow stage play about?

Stranger Things The First Shadow will go back to where the story of Stranger Things really began, with Henry Creel moving to Hawkins, Indiana. The play teases that “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.” Stranger Things: The First Shadow will also offer a look into the youths of beloved Stranger Things characters Jim Hopper, Joyce Byers, née Maldonado, and Bob Newby. Here’s the official synopsis for the play:

“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.”

Stephen Daldry is directing Stranger Things: The First Shadow 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 & visual effects by Jamie Harrison & Chris Fisher, video design & visual effects by 59 Productions, movement direction by Coral Messam, wigs, hair and make-up design by Campbell Young Associates, casting by Jessica Ronane CDG CSA, international casting consultancy by Jim Carnahan, with Gary Beestone for Gary Beestone Associates is Technical Director. Stranger Things: The First Shadow is based on a story by Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers.

“Collaborating with the brilliant Stephen Daldry has been nothing short of inspiring, and Kate Trefry has written a play that is at turns surprising, scary, and heartfelt,” Matt and Ross Duffer said in a statement. “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.”

In the press release first announcing the Stranger Things play, the Duffers said, “Expanding our world beyond the TV series is a thrilling experience and collaborating with this incredible team, led by the inspiring Stephen Daldry, is a joyous process of discovery. Bringing this new Stranger Things story to the stage, with live audiences, is a prospect that we find enormously exciting, and we are delighted that a city with such a rich theater culture as London will receive the world premiere of our new story. We can’t wait to share it with you.”

Sonia Friedman, one of the show’s producers, added, “The world and mythology of Stranger Things has enabled a rich and fertile ground for creating an incredible story for the stage. The Duffer Brothers have built a huge global following for good reason, and a world-class creative team has built on their boundless imagination to dream up an unbelievably exciting theatrical event for our audiences. Set within the canon of Stranger Things, this new play opens in London, with the West End hosting the only place in the world to experience this new story – for now. I’m thrilled to reunite with my visionary long-term collaborator Stephen Daldry. Together, with our brilliant Netflix partners, we can’t wait to welcome Stranger Things fans into theatre, and theatregoers into the realm of Stranger Things.”

“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,” said Greg Lombardo, VP Live Experiences for Netflix. “With the creative talents of Matt and Ross Duffer combined with Sonia Friedman and Stephen Daldry, theatregoers will be swept up in a truly epic event worthy of Stranger Things.” 

Stranger Things: The First Shadow preview shows begin on November 17th. The show’s official opening is on December 14th.

The first four seasons of Stranger Things are streaming now on Netflix. The fifth season of Stranger Things will end the series.