STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW
STR ANGER THINGS IS COMING TO LONDON’S WEST END – AND ITS STORY WILL BE “INTEGRAL” TO THE SHOW. SFX GOES BEHIND THE SCENES TO FIND OUT MORE…
WHEN THE DUFFER BROTHERS, the creators of Stranger Things, asked scribe Kate Trefry to write a stage play based on their Netflix series, her reaction was a natural one: “What the hell are you talking about?” After all, the world of Eleven, the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer was developed for television, and recreating the horrors of Hawkins on stage seemed an impossible task.
Yet here we are two years after that meeting, and Trefry’s talking to SFX between rehearsals for Stranger Things: The First Shadow, a prequel heading to London’s Phoenix Theatre.
“Everything about it is extremely different,” says Trefry, also an executive producer on the series, comparing her experience writing the stage play – based on a story by herself, the Duffers, and acclaimed playwright Jack Thorne – to the show.
“I wrote my original draft with little regard for the stage because I just know how to write the show, so I wrote the show. We’ve been working backwards to figure out how to bring it to the stage, but that’s why they tapped me to do it; because it’s more important that it feels like the show than anything else. It’s canon and it really is part of the show.”
The idea for doing a play originated with co-directors Justin Martin and Stephen Daldry, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind Billy Elliot. The duo had previously worked with Netflix on royal drama The Crown, and after the streamer showed interest in entering the theatrical space, they searched for an idea that could work on stage.
“The thing about Stranger Things is that the world is inherently theatrical,” Martin tells SFX during a lunch break amid intense rehearsals. “There are great characters, but it’s also got a really great heart.” The difficulty Martin foresaw was translating the show’s horror elements to the stage, but it was a challenge he was eager to take on. “There’s a feeling of safety sitting in seats in the theatre,” he says. “I felt really excited to see what’s possible.”
The creative team knew they had to keep the tone of the series intact, including a few healthy jump scares, and needed a writer who knew the Upside Down inside out. “Kate is a phenomenal writer who, having not done theatre before, created this amazing script, which really pushed us
