Yahoo News Stranger Things Play, a Prequel to the Hit Netflix Series, Announced with 2023 Debut in London
Netflix Stranger Things: The First Shadow
The strange and mystical world of Hawkins is coming to the stage!
Netflix announced Wednesday that the world of the Duffer Brothers will be making its stage debut in London's West End at the end of 2023 with Stranger Things: The First Shadow.
Penned by Stranger Things writer and co-executive producer Kate Trefry, the play will take place in Hawkins, Indiana, just as the No. 1 Netflix hit series does — but will transport the audience further back in time to 1959.
The play will follow younger versions of Jim Hopper, Joyce Maldonado (later Byers) and Bob Newby (played by David Harbour, Winona Ryder and Sean Astin, respectively, in the 1980s-set series), along with some new faces.
"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," reads an official synopsis. "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."
Stranger Things: The First Shadow takes the audience "right back to the beginning of the Stranger Things story," the synopsis continues, teasing that the Phoenix Theatre show "may hold the key" to the epic saga's conclusion.
Stephen Daldry, a prolific film and theater director (Billy Elliot, The Crown, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), will helm the project, with Sonia Friedman Productions also on hand.
Brad Torchia/Netflix Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer and Kate Trefry
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"We are beyond excited about Stranger Things: The First Shadow," the series' creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, said in a statement. "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."
"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," the Duffer Brothers added. "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!"
Sonia Friedman, a famed West End and Broadway producer, said in a statement that she "can't wait to welcome Stranger Things fans into theatre and theatregoers into the realm of Stranger Things."
"The world and mythology of Stranger Things has enabled a rich and fertile ground for creating an incredible story for the stage," Friedman continued. "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."
She concluded, "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."
Jackson Lee Davis/Netflix
The upcoming West End play is just one of many upcoming Stranger Things projects the Duffer Brothers have in the works.
While the upcoming fifth season will be the show's last, it's not the end of the franchise. The brothers have revealed they have a spinoff in mind.
The new story is "different than what anyone is expecting, including Netflix," Matt, 39, told Variety in June 2022, though he and his twin refrained from sharing any more details.
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"The reason we haven't done anything is just because you don't want to be doing it for the wrong reasons, and it was just like, 'Is this something I would want to make regardless of it being related to Stranger Things or not?' And definitely," he reportedly added in an interview that same month, per Deadline. "Even if we took the Stranger Things title off of it, I'm so, so excited about it."
More information about how to purchase tickets for Stranger Things: The First Shadow will be announced later this month, Netflix said. To receive priority access to tickets when they go on sale in the spring, fans can sign up on the play's official website.
