Rehearsal images for Stranger Things: The First Shadow in the West End released

Rehearsal images have been released for Stranger Things: The First Shadow in rehearsals ahead of West End premiere at the Phoenix Theatre.

Unlike the TV series, which grounds itself in 1980s pop culture, the stage production (titled Stranger Things: The First Shadow) will be set in 1959 with characters including a young Jim Hopper, Joyce Maldonado, Bob Newby and Henry Creel (played respectively by David Harbour, Winona Ryder, Sean Astin and Jamie Campbell Bower on screen).

The West End show has also revealed it will be releasing 11 pairs of £19.59 tickets for each performance as part of a lottery scheme through TodayTix – beginning on 3 November. Producer Sonia Friedman explained: “We are delighted to launch our Shadow Seats initiative today for Stranger Things: The First Shadow. Offering accessibly priced tickets available to all, in great locations in the house to every performance, with the hope that theatre lovers alongside new audiences can discover the joy and thrill of live theatre is something we are extremely passionate about.”

Leading the show are Shane Attwooll (Wonder Woman 1984) as Chief Hopper, Kemi Awoderu (Arms and the Man) as Sue Anderson, Chase Brown (Mame) as Lonnie Byers, Christopher Buckley (David Copperfield) as Bob Newby, Ammar Duffus (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) as Charles Sinclair, Gilles Geary (Hangmen) as Ted Wheeler, Florence Guy (Tom Jones) as Karen Childress, Max Harwood (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) as Allen Munson, Michael Jibson (Hamilton) as Victor Creel, Oscar Lloyd (The 47th) as James Hopper Jr, Louis McCartney (Hope Street) as Henry Creel, Isabella Pappas (Appropriate) as Joyce Maldonado, Matthew Pidgeon (The White Card) as Father Newby, Calum Ross (Wednesday) as Walter Henderson, Maisie Norma Seaton (Shetland) as Claudia Henderson, Patrick Vaill (Oklahoma!) as Dr Brenner, Lauren Ward (Dear Evan Hansen) as Virginia Creel and Ella Karuna Williams (The Equalizer) as Patty Newby. 

Completing the cast are Tricia Adele-Turner, Lauren Arney, Reya-Nyomi Brown, Patricia Castro, Lydia Fraser, Isaac Gryn, Mark Hammersley, Tom Peters, Kingdom Sibanda, Tiana Simone, Danny Sykes and Meesha Turner.

The show will run at the Phoenix Theatre from 17 November 2023, with tickets (on sale below) currently available through to June 2024.

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Direction is by Stephen Daldry with co-direction by Justin Martin, set design is by Miriam Buether, costume design by Brigitte Reiffenstuel, lighting design by Jon Clark, sound design by Paul Arditti, illusions design and visual effects by Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher, video design and visual effects by 59 Productions, original music and arrangements by D J Walde, choreography by Coral Messam, movement direction by Lynne Page, wigs, hair and make-up design by Campbell Young Associates, technical director is Gary Beestone for Gary Beestone Associates, props supervision by Mary Halliday, dialect by William Conacher, fight direction by Kev McCurdy, casting by Jessica Ronane Casting CDG with additional casting by Charlotte Sutton CDG, and international casting consultancy by Jim Carnahan.