Dear you,
This week, The Stage Rat slips into the Upside Down.
Stranger Things: The First Shadow doesn’t just rehash the Netflix series it mutates it. With jaw-dropping illusions and razor-sharp design, it captures the eerie nostalgia of Hawkins while shifting the medium entirely. But it also raises an old, slippery question: can horror truly work on stage? Can theatre sustain dread, not just deliver it in jolts?
That challenge sits at the core of this production and it’s one Sonia Friedman and Stephen Daldry seem keenly aware of. Rather than mimic screen tactics, they’ve crafted something slower, stranger, and more theatrical: a haunting built on suggestion, not spectacle.
THE RAT’S RECOMMENDATION:
“Stranger Things: The First Shadow ”
Cheese Score: 🧀🧀🧀(3/5)
Description:
Stranger Things: The First Shadow is a stage prequel set in 1959 Hawkins, Indiana. It follows a young Henry Creel (who later becomes Vecna) as he tries to adjust to a new town, only to encounter dark forces that hint at the Upside Down. It explores the origins of evil in Hawkins and sets the stage for the events of the Netflix series.
Why should you care?
Bold Storyworld Extension – In an echo of last week’s show, here we are again with a beloved IP transposed to the stage. Stranger Things: The First Shadow leans into prequel territory, offering enough lore to thrill die-hard fans while attempting to shape a standalone theatrical experience. That’s a narrow tightrope as make it too broad, and the fanbase feels underserved but too specific, and the uninitiated are lost.
One-of-a-Kind Illusions – One of the great challenges of TV-to-stage adaptation is how to render the fantastical live. Here, the production excels. The stagecraft is inventive without showboating: shadowy transitions, eerily levitating bodies, a ship that appears from nowhere, and spiders that crawl from the edges of your vision. Bones snap midair. The audience gasps.
Fast (but Also Long) – Clocking in at 2 hours and 45 minutes, it’s a marathon dressed as a sprint. The pacing rarely drags, but the sheer amount of narrative ground covered from origin stories, secret labs, love triangles to Cold War paranoia means fatigue creeps in by the final act.
Storypoints as Structure, Not Spoilers – Set in 1959 Hawkins, the play gives us younger versions of familiar characters (Joyce, Hopper, Henry Creel) amid an unfolding mystery that echoes the show's themes of guilt, grief, and the shadows we inherit. It’s the scaffolding that gives emotional weight to what comes later in the Netflix timeline.
Who to Bring
Bring your friend who quotes Stranger Things like scripture and cried when Netflix changed their logo animation. Bring the theatre kid turned tech bro who insists projection mapping is “the future of storytelling.” Bring your cousin who once tried to make a Dungeons & Dragons podcast and says things like “Vecna’s just misunderstood.” Do not bring the guy you matched with who says “I love theatre!” but only means Sleep No More and Shucked.
Have you seen it? What's your rating?
Until next week, keep it dramatic, keep it ratty, and always aim for center stage! 🐀✨.
P.S. Thanks for being part of this weird rat family. Please reply to this email and let us rats know how we are doing?
With lots of Ratitude,
The Stage Rat