Deadline reports that a new play is coming to London’s West End: Stranger Things: The First Shadow will open at the Phoenix Theater later this year.
Yes, this is a Stranger Things stage play, written by show writer Kate Trefry based on an idea by creators Matt and Ross Duffer, together with His Dark Materials scribe Jack Thorne. Playwright Stephen Daldry, who’s been developing magic tricks and special effects for the play for a year, will direct.
“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,” said the Duffer Brothers. “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.”
Stranger Things stage play will be a prequel to the Netflix show
The First Shadow is set in 1959, around the time a shadow first falls over the town of Hawkins. Henry Creel, the boy who would grow up to become the inter-dimensional monster Vecna, arrives in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana with his family looking for a fresh start. Good luck with that.
We’ll also see younger versions of important characters from the show, including Jim Hopper (his car won’t start), Joyce Maldonado (she’s looking to graduate and leave town; again, good luck with that) and Bob Newby, who’s sister won’t take his radio show seriously.
More and more movie and TV properties have been branching out into theater lately. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is an international hit, and there’s a Game of Thrones play in development about the fateful Tourney at Harrenhal. It’s just part of what a growing franchise does now. The Stranger Things play will fit right in there.
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