New ‘Stranger Things’ Play ‘The First Shadow’ to Offer Some Deep Hawkins Lore

The first Stranger Things theatrical production has been announced, with a new play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, set to open in London by the end of this year.

The new play will offer some deep Hawkins, Indiana lore, going all the way back to 1959, and featuring younger versions of several prominent characters in the series: “Young Jim Hopper’s car won’t start, Bob Newby’s sister won’t take his radio show seriously and Joyce Maldonado just wants to graduate and get the hell out of town,” reads a description. “When new student Henry Creel arrives, his family finds that a fresh start isn’t so easy… and the shadows of the past have a very long reach.”

And, in an effort to entice fans of the show as much as possible, the description ends, “[T]his gripping new adventure will take you right back to the beginning of the Stranger Things story — and may hold the key to the end.”

The First Shadow was written by Stranger Things writer and co-executive producer Kate Trefry. Trefry came up with the story with the show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, as well as Jack Thorne, a screenwriter and playwright who’s worked on Harry Potter and the Cursed Trial, Enola Holmes, and the TV adaptation of His Dark Materials. 

An exact premiere date for The First Shadow hasn’t been announced yet, though it will be staged at the Phoenix Theatre on London’s West End. Tony-winner Stephen Daldry will direct alongside co-director Justin Martin. Fans can also register for access to tickets now via the play’s website. 

The First Shadow was teased last July when the Duffer Brothers announced a Stranger Things play was one of several projects they were working on as part of a new production deal with Netflix. Amidst adaptations of the Japanese manga and anime series Death Note and Stephen King and Peter Strauss’s 1984 fantasy novel The Talisman, the only other Stranger Things-related project announced at the time was a possible spin-off series, though no other details were given.

Stranger Things’ fourth and penultimate season arrived in two parts last summer. When the fourth season was officially announced, the Duffer Brothers also confirmed that Season Five would be the show’s last (no word yet on when that will premiere).