Many revered shows on Broadway both past and present have been based on popular television and film franchises. Whether it be Hairspray or The Lion King, adaptations time and again prove to be a reliable strategy for bringing in general audiences from the TV screen to the theater stage. While this is not always a guarantee for success, Stranger Things: The First Shadow” is a prime example of what can be achieved when adaptations are well executed.

Nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Actor for Louis McCartney’s performance as Henry Creel, this offshoot of the award-winning Netflix original series sees Creel’s character as the protagonist of his very own story, battling with his villain origins.

Making its successful debut first in 2023 on London’s West End, Stranger Things staged previews in March at New York City’s Marquis Theatre, with its official opening date on April 22, earning much critical acclaim thus far.

Characters

The opening sequence starts with a mysterious disappearance of the WWII battleship USS Eldridge due to a military experiment aboard that goes horribly wrong. The audience is then teleported to Hawkins, Indiana, circa the 1950s, where Henry Creel, a teenage recluse obsessed with his radio, begins life in a new town with his family in order to get away from an ominous “incident” at his old school back in Nevada.

While attending Hawkins High School, Henry encounters multiple characters from the Stranger Things franchise, including Jim Hopper, a delinquent selling cigarettes and nagged by his strict, no-nonsense father, Chief Hopper. Joyce Byers, known as Joyce Maldonado, is depicted as the school’s charismatic ringleader. She devises a scheme to escape Hawkins with the help of her classmates by creating a school play about a misunderstood witch boy, and Henry inevitably gets roped into playing the lead role. Bob Newby, featured in season 2 of the Netflix series, runs the school’s AV club and has his own radio show.

New characters are also introduced, like Bob’s father (Principal Newby) and his adopted sister Patty, the only character to feel an affinity toward Henry. Patty asks him to use his strange powers to help look for their estranged mother.

Over the course of the play, Henry continuously struggles with and ultimately succumbs to the evil influences of what is known as the Mind Flayer. A younger version of Dr. Martin Brenner also makes his appearance midway through, as the main antagonist that encourages Henry to fall deeper down the rabbit hole.

This story further explores the motivations of Dr. Brenner’s character, and explains why he develops an obsession with reaching through to the alternate dimension, “The Upside Down.”

Impressions

What first stands out about Stranger Things: The First Shadow is the comedy, which, much like the Netflix series, strikes a creative balance between goofy teenage shenanigans and the overall somber tone of Henry’s otherworldly affliction. Despite the new slate of actors (except McCartney, carried over from the London production), the performance and dynamic between characters remains strong. Because of this, directors Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin still capture the essence of what people enjoy about the series.

The production also takes several technical risks in the set design to authentically reconstruct the world of Hawkins for the stage. One of the show's major successes is its integration of both digital and practical elements: the opening sequence interweaves a digital screen depicting a crashed ship with smoke and soldiers firing prop weapons. In a more subtle moment, Henry is shown entering the in-between dimension with a mirrored body double.

But the moment that encapsulates this most is in the climax, when the Mind Flayer, a near full-scale prop replica, overtakes the entire top of the stage. In the day and age of smartphones and shortened attention spans, it has become harder for the entertainment industry to maintain the suspension of disbelief, especially among younger people. And yet, the positive audience reaction to these scenes proved the set design team stuck the landing.

Where the show struggles, like most adaptations, is in its originality and ability to be a stand-alone product. An observer who is unfamiliar with the Stranger Things universe may struggle to follow the plot. The greatest fault of this play is that it relies too heavily on the audience already knowing the storyline.

Despite this, the production, overall, offers a compelling narrative for theatergoers. At times, it can feel more like a live TV show instead of a more traditional-style play; however, it is still an immensely enjoyable experience worthy of the time and money spent.

Fans of the franchise will find that Stranger Things: The First Shadow authentically channels the spirit of the show, capturing the excitement for the final season of Stranger Things coming out later this year.

It ends with a teasing ending sequence of a Netflix loading screen that says “Watch Next Episode” almost completing itself only to have a mouse cursor click the “Watch Credits” button next to it last second. Above all else, it is this playful relationship Stranger Things continues to have with its fan base that demonstrates why people continue to stay hooked, and the Broadway production captures that.