Stage prequel Stranger Things The First Shadow sends fans back to 1959 Hawkins, putting Henry Creel at the centre of a live-action mystery that links directly into the final TV season.
Key Things to Know
- Stranger Things The First Shadow is a stage prequel set in 1959, decades before Season 1 of the Netflix show.
- The story follows teen Henry Creel, plus young Hopper, Joyce and Bob, long before they become the adults fans know.
- The play opened in London’s West End in 2023 and now runs both at London’s Phoenix Theatre and on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre.
- Critics praise its jaw‑dropping effects and “event of the year” feel, while some call it big on spectacle, lighter on depth.
- Key plot details and Vecna clues from the play are now echoed in Stranger Things Season 5, making it must‑watch lore for hardcore fans.
Back to 1959 Hawkins: What the Play Is About
Stranger Things The First Shadow is the first official Stranger Things play, set in Hawkins, Indiana, in 1959. The story shows the Creel family moving into town, with troubled teen Henry Creel hiding strange powers and dark visions.
Around him, we meet high‑school versions of Jim Hopper, Joyce Maldonado and Bob Newby, dealing with homework, car trouble and crushes until strange animal deaths and a new evil twist their small town. As Henry’s link to the Upside Down grows, the show reveals how this shy “weirdo” will one day become Vecna, the main villain of Season 4 and a key threat in Season 5.
Staging the Upside Down: How the Play Works Onstage
The play launched in London’s West End at the Phoenix Theatre in 2023 and continues to play to packed houses, with critics calling it “breathtaking theatre” and an “event of the year”. In April 2025 it opened on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre, with a slightly shorter, 2 hour 45 minute cut and updated illusions to fit the bigger space.
Reviews highlight huge projections, live Demogorgons, levitation tricks, thunderous sound and dense fog that turn the auditorium into a kind of live Upside Down. Illusion designers from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child helped build many of the jaw‑dropping set pieces, blending moving sets, lighting, sound and video into one continuous scare machine.
Henry From Stranger Things: Why This Origin Story Matters
For fans asking “who is Henry from Stranger Things?”, the play gives the fullest answer yet. On TV, we learned Henry is the boy who becomes Subject 001 at Hawkins Lab and later Vecna, after killing his family and being banished by Eleven. Onstage, we see even earlier memories: Henry’s time near Nevada caves, his first contact with strange dimension‑hopping tech, and the “shadow” presence that whispers to him.
Critics say actor Louis McCartney’s Broadway Henry and his West End counterparts make the character feel at once bullied, lonely and terrifying, shifting from awkward teen to cold future monster in front of the audience. One reviewer wrote that Henry’s victims’ fates are among the most shocking moments in a show already full of shocks, thanks to brutal sound design and gruesome makeup.
“You’re not just watching a villain; you’re watching a scared kid slide into something much darker,” one London critic summed up after seeing The First Shadow.
Impact on the Franchise: Awards, Hype and Season 5 Links
The play has become a major part of the Stranger Things machine as Netflix sends off the series with live events, brand tie‑ins and spin‑offs. In 2025, Stranger Things The First Shadow picked up Tony Awards for its category and its set work, confirming that this is more than a simple cash‑grab tie‑in.
Story‑wise, Season 5 now leans hard on clues seeded in the play:
- Henry’s fear of certain Nevada caves and tech from “Dimension X”.
- A girl named Patty, whose bond with Henry becomes his weakness and a target for Dr Brenner.
- New details about Victor Creel’s trial and why the town blamed him, not Henry, for the murders.
Recaps show how Season 5’s episodes echo scenes and lines from The First Shadow, prompting some fans to treat the play almost like a “hidden Season 0” that changes how they read Vecna’s arc.
What’s Next for Stranger Things The First Shadow?
With Stranger Things Season 5 now streaming and billed as the final chapter, Netflix and producers say the play will keep running in London and on Broadway for as long as demand holds, giving fans a live way to stay in Hawkins after the TV story ends. There is talk of future filmed or touring versions, but no confirmed tour yet.
For now, Stranger Things The First Shadow stands as a rare thing: a big‑budget TV spin‑off that many theatre critics call both a tech triumph and, at its best, an emotional coming‑of‑age story about a boy who becomes a monster. For anyone asking about the Stranger Things play or Henry’s full backstory, this is the place where the shadows really begin.
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