27 March 2024 I 19:00 I Phoenix Theatre, London
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Stranger Things: The First Shadow is the ultimate live experience, utterly stunned by its impact and artistry. Perhaps the most compelling event to ever hit London. The play tackles a multi-media fusion that seeks the intensity of a motion picture, fitting masterfully into the Hawkins canon. Produced with exacting precision, the supernatural beyond stage magic, something that is realised in the space, endless shivers all over the body! These visceral responses define an investing piece that haunts the memory.
This stage prequel details Henry Creel's clamorous upbringing to curate the ultimate antagonist. Audiences are introduced to roles familiar and new, allowing parallels with the series to be honoured while creating something originally exciting. Characterisations are well studied, most of all Isabella Pappas' Joyce, understanding Winona Ryder's mannerisms to blur the boundaries between the two universes. We believe the performance exists in the timeline we already know. A high school play is rehearsed alongside the action, with bursts of Oklahoma! making the inner theatre kid very happy!
Louis McCartney's Henry has one of the most consummate and considered stage presences I have ever witnessed. The attention to detail is immaculate, where an awkward likeability manifests into haunting physicalisations of terror. Unbelievably wicked, McCartney will guarantee to unsettle in uncomfortable sequences. Ella Karuna Williams astounds with raw, vulnerable talent as Patty Newby, a sensational West End debut led with credible emotion. Patrick Vaill dominates as a stage counterpart of Dr Brenner, again succeeding in disturbing with a powerful aura to make anyone shrink into their seat.
The supernatural quality of Stranger Things is highly renowned, with Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher's special effects amplifying this enchantment as if it is wholly real and dangerous. A lengthy 3 hours pass in what feels like 30 minutes, almost entering a hypnotic state in which you lose yourself. Miriam Buether's set and Jon Clark's lighting compliment one another for a gothic atmosphere brimming with tension. When imagery is incomprehensible in how it is achieved, there is nothing better!
Sat on the end of the second row stalls, the view is labelled restricted. While a couple of moments are obscured, the price for the experience is outstanding. Sitting here includes interaction with a performer, and the most harrowing moment of the play happens right by your side! The rumbles of the tube below the auditorium even add an extra element to the soundscape.
Kate Trefry brings the Duffer Brothers & Jack Thorne's Stranger Things to stage in an engrossing prequel. Under Stephen Daldry's direction, The First Shadow goes beyond the fright in exploring a trauma through post-war America and the turbulence of high school in the late 50s. Faultless in every sense of the word. Between seeing the show and writing this review, we've already booked a return trip!
Part of a shorter series of reviews, initially published on Instagram to manage university demand.
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