London will get a taste of the upside down later this year, when a Stranger Things stage play arrives on the West End. Netflix announced that the play, entitled Stranger Things: The First Shadow, will debut at the Phoenix Theatre, Variety reports.
Borrowing from the hit Netflix series, the stage show will serve as a prequel to the happenings in Hawkins that we know from the streaming show. Taking place in 1959, the play will focus on the arrival of Henry Creel and his family in the small town. Viewers will recognize the name as a character featured in the flashbacks of the fourth season, which had a number of scenes take place at the Creel house.
Additionally, Stranger Things: The First Shadow will feature even more familiar faces from the show, such as young versions of Jim Hopper and Bob Newby. The prequel play will serve as Netflix’s first foray into the world of live theater, perhaps taking a page from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a stage sequel to the Harry Potter books.
In fact, Stranger Things: The First Shadow is written by Kate Trefry based on an original story by Trefry, Matt and Ross Duffer, and Jack Thorne. Thorne previously wrote Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Trefry is a writer on Stranger Things, which the Duffer Brothers created.
Netflix hasn’t said when Stranger Things: The First Shadow will arrive, nor has the streaming service provided a release window for the much-anticipated fifth and final season of Stranger Things. However, tickets for the London stage show will likely arrive this spring.
It’s interesting that a show steeped in Americana would originate in London, but perhaps it will transfer to Broadway later. If not, it could take a cue from the Spirited Away stage play, which will soon arrive in movie theaters following its live run in Japan.