Netflix’s Hit Show ‘Stranger Things’ is Being Adapted For The Stage

Stranger Things is making its way to Broadway.

Brought on by Netflix, the play Stranger Things: The First Shadow takes place years before the series’ events. Its first show was in London’s West End last year.

Moreover, the play is set in Hawkins, Indiana, in 1959. It follows a young Jim Hopper, Joyce Maldonado, and Bob Newby’s sister, who deal with the challenge of the arrival of the new kid in town: Henry Creel. Production tributes Stranger Things creators, the Duffer Brothers as the original story and the play’s creative producers, and Kate Terfry as the writer.

Tickets for the Stranger Things: The First Shadow on Broadway go on presale on September 13, and general availability starts on September 17. Since premiering last year, the play has earned two Olivier Awards in the categories of Best New Entertainment and Best Set Design.

Viewing the clips from the play in London makes it clear that there is no shortage of action, and the special effects do not disappoint. The reviews for the play also highlight that though the story is lacking at times, the effects still outshine it. If you can’t see the play, you can still tune in to watch Stranger Things’ fifth season on Netflix when it launches next year.

After seven years, the show is coming to an end. The fifth and final season is set to debut on November 6, Netflix’s annual Stranger Things Day. The date is symbolic since on November 6, 1983, Will Byers went missing from Hawkins, Indiana. The show first aired in July 2016 and became an instant success, with the actors from the show landing major roles afterward.

Additionally, the show has also broken several Netflix records. Season Four of the series set a Nielsen record for the most-watched show ever at that time and totaled more than seven billion minutes of viewing time in a single week. It also was the most streamed series of the entire year at the time.

When creators Matt and Ross Duffer announced the fifth season would be the last, fans were understandably upset. After all, the once-child stars are now in their late teens and early 20s.

The Duffer brothers wrote a letter to fans in February 2022, stating that the show was ending.

The letter states: “At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four but- as you’ll see for yourselves- we are now hurtling toward our finale.”

Season Four of the series was split into a two-part release. The season revealed that every villain taken on by Hawkins, Indiana, crew-played by Mille Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Priah Ferguson, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Maya Hawke, Joe Keery, David Harbour, Winona Ryder and Brett Gelman all came from one person: Henry Creel (played by Jamie Campbell Bower) also known as “001” and “Vecna.”

The final season of Stranger Things was originally set to start production this past summer, but the writers’ and actors’ strikes delayed it. The Duffer brothers closed the show’s writers’ room on May 6, at the start of the WGA strike. When the strike ended, the creators announced they were up and running again.

On January 8, 2024, Netflix announced that the final season had officially gone into production.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow debuts at Broadway Marquis in March 2025,