How it’s New York: Though set in Hawkins, Indiana, the stage production of STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW has become a Broadway event, drawing New York audiences to the Marquis Theatre on 46th Street (inside the Marriott).
How it’s Irish: The show features the haunted, gothic mood that resonates with Irish storytelling traditions, and the Stranger Things franchise has a passionate following in Ireland.
Don’t worry if, like me, you only saw one season of Netflix’s STRANGER THINGS, or if, like my companion, you never saw it at all.
The science‑fiction gothic spectacle is a prequel to the popular show, and while you may miss the recognition the audience gives to some names with their cheers, you can 100 percent enjoy the show.
And there’s a lot to enjoy! Huge set pieces that seem to come right at you! A “possessed” young actor who twitches and shakes like a possessed cat toy! A huge company who are game for whatever director Stephen Daldry (An Inspector Calls), with co‑director Justin Martin, ask of them.
It’s not deep and won’t change your life (and not all of its interior logic makes sense), but if you want to see your money onstage, this show delivers. It’s huge, it’s innovative, it’s brash. There are 33 actors onstage, and it’s not even a musical!
It’s not Great Art, but it’s a good time.
Kate Trefry’s script, based on an original story by The Duffer Brothers, Jack Thorne & Kate Trefry, and the Netflix series created by The Duffer Brothers (whew, that’s a lot), has a lot going on.
We open with a shipwreck in 1943. It’s mysterious and faintly X‑Files. What the heck just happened?
Next thing you know, it’s 1959 and we’re following the story of misfit Henry Creel (Louis McCartney), who’s weirdly attached to his red radio, and his family, who have just moved to Hawkins, Indiana. If you think Henry has psychokinetic powers, you’re ahead of the game: in true Stephen King‑like fashion, Henry is dismayed by his powers and worries he’s evil. Patty Newby (Gabrielle Nevaeh) befriends him. Meanwhile, energetic Joyce Maldonado (Alison Jaye) is putting on a school play—THE DARK OF THE MOON by Howard
Richardson and William Berney, a witch‑fable set in Appalachia. This makes for great spectacle later, even if it’s 100 percent unrealistic.
And—again in King‑like fashion—there’s been a wave of shocking crimes in town, including animal killings. Henry gets sent to psychiatrist Dr. Martin Brenner (Ted Koch), who appears in the series—cue audience cheers.
There’s a LOT more. The show feels a lot like binging a Netflix series: part ’80s high school movie, part Stephen King, part Stranger Things itself.
The play ends by setting up some of the main characters in the show. It does not all quite make sense, but never mind—you don’t really have time to ponder it as the production leaps from one amazing spectacle to another.
Oh, and did I mention the monster?
There’s a monster. It’s huuuge.
But for this critic, McCartney’s twitching and shaking as he kept acting were the most marvelous things onstage.
STRANGER THINGS is at the Marquis Theatre (inside the Marriott Hotel), 210 W. 46th St.
