Set decades before the events of the hit Netflix series, this stage prequel transports us to 1959 Hawkins, Indiana, where the Creel family hopes for a fresh start. Teenage Henry Creel seems to be settling in - finding friends and joining the school play - until a series of disturbing events shatter the calm. As violent crimes rock the town, Henry must confront unsettling questions about his past and the darkness he may be carrying within in the face of terrifying forces.

Fresh from the West End, The First Shadow, which opened April 22, 2025, at the Marquis Theatre is the shadowy new chapter in the Stranger Things universe...but what did the critics think?

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Critic Reviews Of Stranger Things: The First Shadow

"Three hours in the "Stranger Things: The First Shadow" universe passes in a blink. By the end, you're convinced they've pulled off another trick: an exorbitant spectacle wrapped around the scrappy, gushy heart of the original." - Broadway News

"Enough can't be said that this production doesn't just change the game of Broadway, it smashes the game board and shoots it into a new dimension. When you take one of the most watched television shows in history and bring it to the stage, the pressure is high but Netflix and producer Sonia Friedman cracked the code thanks to the work of hundreds of artisans and crewa nod should be given to Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher for their work on illusions and visual effects. Stranger Things: The First Shadow may just be the best production, visually speaking, to ever hit Broadwaywell in this universe, anyway." - Theatreley

"The First Shadow, now an integral part of the ST canon, is an absolute must-see for all enthusiasts, and it will certainly inspire some of the uninitiated to binge the original (mission accomplished, Netflix). I'm betting this gateway to the Upside Down will remain open for a long time." - Theatermania

"Immersive, heartfelt, and exhilarating, First Shadow is a must-see spectacle for the Stranger Things obsessive as much as it is for the theater aficionado who wants to see the medium pushed to new heights. It does a phenomenal job of not only fleshing out a complicated character, but also providing context for the extreme lengths that Henry goes to in the TV series." - Entertainment Weekly

"So here it is, the Broadway show as theme park, right down to the three-storied faade of the ebony mansion through which all patrons must pass en route to their seats and the merch, and a thrill ride not to be forgotten. The goal is an immersive experience, and to my mind not only have they achieved it, but it's a helluva lot more fun and exciting than the average "civilized" immersive (looking at you, Sleep No More). Are there enough of the fans and the curious to make it last and pay off? Only time will tell, just as only time will determine its chances to attract a whole new generation to the joys of live theater. Stranger things have happened." - New York Stage Review

"Daldry and Martin are, of course, talented and highly experienced directors of major stage spectacles, and "Stranger Things" is far from a hack job or mere brand exploitation. It has been forged with integrity, especially in the superior first act, before the show gets trapped in one of its bespoke devices: creepy stuff happening during the production of a high school play." - New York Daily News

"Herding all of it into a smashing piece of entertainment is director Daldry (The Inheritance, Billy Elliot: The Musical) and his co-director and frequent collaborator Justin Martin (Prima Facie), who funnel all the moving parts, colors, smoke, mirrors and monsters into a non-stop thrill ride. Sure, it's more surface than substance, and its depictions of how we humans long for connection of any sort is sincere if not particularly original. But just try not to be tickled by even the simplest of the show's trickery, like when a book fallen from a school locker flies right back in. At one point in the play, young, brainwashed Henry, under the villainous Brenner's sway, can only surrender to the dark magic. I know the feeling." - Deadline