“Stranger Things: The First Shadow” transports audiences to 1959 Hawkins, Indiana — and it does so with jaw-dropping flair. Currently showing at London’s Phoenix Theatre, this West End prequel to the hit Netflix series is more than a nostalgic spin- off; it’s a dark, dazzling, and deeply human tragedy about Henry Creel — the boy who will become the series’ ultimate villain.
The play follows the troubled teenage Henry as he moves to a new town where he experiences disturbing visions and an increasing loss of control over his latent
supernatural powers and psychokinetic abilities. As he struggles to fit in and form connections, dark forces begin to stir — hinting at the origins of the evil that will one day plague the town of Hawkins. A story of loneliness, power, and descent into darkness, the play reveals the chilling beginnings of the “Stranger Things” mythology.
While the TV show focuses on a group of teenagers in the 1980s, “The First
Shadow” shifts the spotlight to their parents’ generation, exploring their youth in the late 1950s and providing the backstory for the characters we’ve come to know and love.
You don’t need to be a die-hard fan of the Netflix series to be swept up in this story. At its heart is a richly drawn character study. Louis Healy delivers a standout performance as Henry — sensitive, alienated, and pulled between the desire to be normal and the darkness brewing inside him. Though we know the monstrous figure he’ll become, Healy makes us care for him. You feel his loneliness, his craving for connection, especially in his friendship with fellow outsider Patty.
Artistic talent runs deep in the Healy Household: Louis, the son of actors Tim Healy and Denise Welch, and younger brother of “The 1975’s” Matty Healy, brings emotional depth and eerie charisma to the stage. This might just be his breakout role — and hopefully the first of many standout performances on the West End.
The production values are, frankly, out of this world. A transparent stage curtain becomes a portal into the ‘Upside Down’, allowing the play to shift seamlessly between realities using projections and light. Shadows twist and flicker, the atmosphere turns uncanny, and you’re never quite sure what awaits behind the next scene change. Combined with the iconic soundscape of the original series, the result is a fully immersive sensory experience.
At times suspenseful, even terrifying, the play had me on edge — and occasionally covered in goosebumps. It was definitely a five-star thrill ride.
(Image courtesy of Maximiliane Scheller)