As a big Stranger Things fan, The First Shadow was a must-see. So I took a trip to the Phoenix Theatre on the West-End to see what’s what!
The play is a prequel to Stranger Things, taking place in 1959. The ‘A’ plot if you will follows Henry Creel (Louis Healy) as he struggles with being pulled to the darkness. The ‘B’ plot follows a young Joyce Byers (Jessica Rhodes), Jim Hopper (Mark Hammersley), Bob Newby (Callum Maxwell), and other familiar faces as they look into some mysterious killings.
That’s about as much plot as I’ll go into as it really is best explored spoiler free. There is a lot going on here!
Given the play is a chunky three hours, I never felt bored and I was invested in all the characters. It was super fun seeing the younger parents from the show, though it felt a bit fan servicey and, at times, distracted from Henry’s story I wanted to see. However, the levity the trio plot provided was a nice contrast to the heaviness to the rest of the story.
Speaking of the rest of the story – Henry Creel’s arc in this play was nothing short of terrific, engaging, exciting, scary, funny, just about anything else you can say. Louis Healy played the part which such intensity, as he switched from a lighthearted interaction, to a heavy exchange as the darkness grows. He must be knackered by the end of each performance!
We learn a lot about Henry Creel as a character, and the big question is: how much does his arc here matter for Season 5? All I can say is, you view him a different light in this play. If that’s not explored in Season 5 I’d be very surprised.
The play in general just bombards you with new information, which really does make The First Shadow a huge recommendation alone if you’re into world building and lore. I hope Season 5 appropriately catches up fans who haven’t seen the play, but time will tell.
Looking backwards a bit, there are some continuity inconsistencies with the series that may have you scratching your heads. A big one being, for such an allegedly quiet town that is Hawkins in the 80s, characters seem to have short term memories of the events in this play. This is an issue for all prequels I know, but just setting some expectations here.
Regardless, I’m willing to hand-waive that away as everything else is so good. The production values at play here are off the charts. The play is visually stunning, with a terrific opening set piece, superb special effects, and the lighting helped set the mood perfectly. There was one scene involving an animal killing that made me jumpscare!
Clear screens, LED stripes, and some amazing wire work also go into creating the world of The Upside Down which looks even more terrifying with the practical effects in front of you. This isn’t to mention the subtle, but essential, eery underlying score that creates an intense, almost oppressive feeling in certain scenes, as it does in the show. All in all, this play is a spectacle so don’t take your eyes off the stage!
The best compliment I can give was that this felt like an episode of Stranger Things, except everything was vivid and real playing out in front of you. All the actors played new and legacy roles with confidence, and I felt like I was watching the Joyce and Jim from the TV flirting on stage.
Get yourself down to Hawkins!
Chris.
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