In 1943, the United States holds secret experiments involving the USS Eldridge, hoping to use a force field to turn the ship invisible and undetectable to the Germans. However, the ship is instead transported to Dimension X, where most of the crew are killed by strange humanoid creatures.
Chapter One: The Girl from Nowhere
In 1959, the Creel family - consisting of Victor, his wife Virginia, and their children: older son, Henry, and younger daughter, Alice Creel - move to a new home in Hawkins, Indiana. Henry is tormented, mentally disturbed and in possession of remarkable psychokinetic abilties. Henry struggles to make friends upon joining Hawkins High School; despite that, he quickly forms a connection with Patty Newby, daughter of the school principal. Patty convinces Henry that his powers are not evil, and that he should be able to control them and use them for good. Henry creates a "vision" for Patty, where she can express herself through song while being supported by everyone around her. They form a romantic bond, meeting each other every day after school, and eventually kiss. Meanwhile, Joyce Maldonado attempts to put on a school production of Dark of the Moon.
While at the attic alone, Henry is overcome by the influence of a shadowy presence - his mind enters what he calls "the battlefield", from where he proceeds to kill several animals, including Claudia Yount's cat Prancer. Henry becomes haunted by visions of a humanoid monster; he is terrified that he will be made to kill Patty. Following this, Patty's adoptive brother Bob teams up with Joyce and her friend James Hopper Jr. to investigate the animal killings.
Patty convinces Henry to use his powers to track down her biological mother. As he does this, and while inside the void, he loses control and is once again visited by the monster. This frightens Patty, and when her father walks in and witnesses the scene, he is attacked and almost killed (by Henry controlled by the presence). Patty is able to encourage Henry to fight back by telling him that she believes he is good and that she loves him. Henry responds that he loves her too and is able to end the situation, but not before Patty's father is blinded and seriously injured. Mr. Newby is sent to the hospital, and Henry's mother Virginia sends Henry to Dr. Martin Brenner. It is revealed that she was supplied with drugs by Brenner; under the influence of these drugs, Virginia told Brenner everything about her son. When Mr. Newby wakes up, he tells Patty that Henry saved him from the monster. Mr. Newby draws a picture of the shadowy entity on a piece of paper and gives it to his daughter: it's the Mind Flayer.
Chapter Two: Captain Midnight
Brenner takes Henry to Hawkins National Laboratory, where the two discuss the past: It is explained that Brenner's father was the captain and sole survivor of the USS Eldridge experiment, who returned to the normal world with significant injuries and a unique blood type; the elder Brenner later revealed the truth about these events on his deathbed. Dr. Brenner later established the Nevada Experiment, an attempt to reproduce what had happened to the Eldridge.
One of Brenner's fellow scientists defected and stole key technology and transported it to a Nevadan cave. At this time, a very young Henry and the Creels lived nearby, in Rachel, Nevada. While exploring the Nevadan caves and playing with a spyglass, Henry stumbled across the stolen technology when it unexpectedly activated, transporting him and the defecting scientist to Dimension X.
In Dimension X, Henry was exposed to the influence of the shadowy entity. Though Henry returned home after 12 hours, he now possessed a unique blood type and had a changed personality. Brenner was later able to track Henry down thanks to Henry dropping his spyglass in the caves.
Henry, using a sensory deprivation chamber, shows Brenner a humanoid creature through the Void. Brenner sees this creature displayed on a screen, and Henry convulses. Brenner then tries to force Henry to kill a prisoner, but Henry breaks down and ends up stabbing two guards. After this, Henry tells Brenner that he can let him go. Brenner understands that the boy is devoted to someone and therefore cannot kill; later Brenner realizes that this person is Patty and vows to find and kill her.
Henry returns home, but senses that his family is not happy about his return. Using his powers, he reads his mother's thoughts and understands that she wants to send him back to Brenner. Henry gives into the shadowy entity's influence; while possessed, he kills Virginia and Alice before falling unconscious, with Victor also falling unconscious.
Awakening in dazed confusion some hours later, Henry walks to Hawkins High School to save Patty from Brenner, where the performance of Dark of the Moon is about to begin. Atop the stage rafters, Henry reunites with Patty only to be interrupted by Brenner, who appears on the other side of the stage. Brenner says that Patty is his weakness, and Patty tells Henry not to listen to him. As Henry struggles for control, he informs Patty that he managed to find her birth mother, a singer at the Stardust Casino in Las Vegas. Feeling overwhelmed, the shadowy entity once again takes control of Henry, and Henry throws Patty off the rafters. Brenner takes Henry back to Hawkins Lab, Patty is taken to the hospital, and Victor Creel is accused of the murder of Virginia and Alice based on Joyce, Bob and Jim's assumptions about the animal killings.
In 1963, Joyce and Jim bid farewell to each other as the latter is shipped off to fight in Vietnam.
Epilogue
Some years later, an older Henry is back at Hawkins Lab and is restrained. Using the Void, Henry discovers that Patty survived her fall and was discharged from the hospital, though now needing to walk with a cane. Henry observes her in Las Vegas, where she meets her mother backstage after a performance at the Stardust Casino; Patty and her mother recognize each other and embrace.
Brenner informs Henry that the blood transfusions administered to the test subjects have been successful; as a reward, Brenner frees Henry from his restraints. In the Rainbow Room, Henry is introduced to one of the children; Henry remarks: "Hello Eleven, I have something new for us." Lightning flashes and the silhouette of Vecna appears on the back wall.
On March 1, 2023, the show's title was announced as Stranger Things: The First Shadow.[5] The show began previews on November 17, 2023, and officially opened on December 14, 2023, at the Phoenix Theatre.[6][7][8]
The production is co-directed by Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin. Set design is by Miriam Buether; costume design by Brigitte Reiffenstuel; lighting design by Jon Clark; sound design by Paul Arditti; illusion design and visual effects by Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher; video design and visual effects by 59 Productions; movement direction by Coral Messam; wigs, hair and make-up design by Campbell Young Associates; casting by Jessica Ronane Casting CDG; and international casting consultancy by Jim Carnahan. Gary Beestone for Gary Beestone Associates is technical director.[9]
On September 20, 2023, the full cast was announced. The company features Oscar Lloyd as James Hopper Jr., Isabella Pappas as Joyce Maldonado, Chris Buckley as Bob Newby, Louis McCartney as Henry Creel, Patrick Vaill as Dr. Brenner, Ella Karuna Williams as Patty Newby, Michael Jibson as Victor Creel, and Lauren Ward as Virginia Creel.[10][7]
Stranger Things: The First Shadow at the Phoenix Theatre, London, in April 2024
On April 15, 2025, a documentary called Behind the Curtain: Stranger Things: The First Shadow, about the making of the play and its debut in the West End, was released on Netflix.[11]
In June 2025, director Justin Martin said that the audiences were very noisy compared to traditional theatre audiences. Surveys revealed that around 60 per cent of them had never been to the theatre, so they "eat popcorn throughout and just respond in a really natural way".[12]
Broadway (2025)
On August 6, 2024, it was announced that the show would transfer to Broadway in early 2025. Previews began at the Marquis Theatre on March 28, 2025, while the play's official opening date was on April 22, 2025.[13][14]Louis McCartney was announced to be reprising the role of Henry Creel for the Broadway transfer in 2025.[15]
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