This acclaimed hit, with a couple of Olivier Awards last year and a Broadway transfer announced this week, is an adaptation of the Netflix teen horror TV show. Ticket sales are safe, fans happy, and the atmosphere is grand. It’s a long play, packed with action, and entertaining throughout. But perhaps the biggest achievement is that you don’t have to be a devotee of the source material to enjoy its venture on to the stage.
Stranger Things: The First Shadow is a prequel to the TV series, so we meet earlier versions of characters. But background information isn’t needed. It’s set in a small American town in 1959 – ticking boxes for atmospheric setting and nostalgia – where we follow troubled teen Henry Creel, somehow affected by a military experiment so that he has some kind of deadly power. It’s intriguing enough, but quite simple and lightly plotted, given the writing and story are credited to four people: Kate Trefry, The Duffer Brothers and Jack Thorne.
The TV format antecedents are clear. Tension comes from short scenes a few too many times, there are touches of soap opera about relationships, and the ending is poor (a jump scare and too obvious a call for a sequel). But there’s been a conscious and successful effort to move away from the small screen – director Stephen Daldry makes sure the show is ambitious and theatrical, not least with the inclusion of a play at school, a nice touch.
The coming-of-age story isn’t that convincing. Louis McCartney does a good job as the confused Henry and is excellent at being creepy. But his schoolmates are either too grown up or too immature. There’s a nice role for Ella Karuna Williams, who portrays Henry’s love interest, but her brother (played by Christopher Buckley) just ends up annoying. There are surely missed opportunities when it comes to Henry’s parents, played by Alex Young and Michael Jibson, who are both excellent but too clearly wasted. A suspicion of adults isn’t surprising in a show like this. Completing the theme is the scary scientist, another character written broadly but capably played by Patrick Vaill. The latter’s role as a substitute father for Henry could be developed further. But Netflix could easily cast all these guys in one of their shows… and hopefully they will.
It’s not so much the characters, or the story itself, as the telling of the tale that is the focus. And here Stranger Things: The First Shadow lives up to the hype. The technical accomplishments of the show are extraordinary. Miriam Buether’s expensive-looking set deserves more than one round of applause. The illusions and visual effects, by Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher, will leave you scratching your head, and Jon Clark’s excellent lighting holds the key to a lot of them. Plus the (very loud) sound design by Paul Arditti adds immeasurably. It isn’t all high tech – a lot is done with just torches and the speed of the cast and crew. But what we see is key: the show looks fantastic and there’s no doubt you get your money’s worth.
Booking until 16 February 2025
www.uk.strangerthingsonstage.com
Photos by Manuel Harlan
