Stranger Things: The First Shadow announces new lead cast and West End extension

Stranger Things: The First Shadow has announced a new lead cast as the award-winning production marks its second anniversary in the West End.

The new company begins performances on 12 November 2025, shortly before the arrival of the fifth season of the Netflix series.

To mark the second anniversary, a limited number of tickets priced at £19.59 will be released for weekday performances between 18 November and 12 December 2025, available for 72 hours only.

From 12 November, Jack Christou will take on the role of Henry Creel, with Stewart Clarke as Dr Brenner, Avril Maponga as Patty Newby, Max Potter as Bob Newby, Adam Wadsworth as James Hopper Jr and Edie Wright as Joyce Maldonado.

The production has also announced a partnership with Go Live Theatre, which will host an Education Matinee on 21 November for students from state schools in London with a high volume of pupil premium funding. Tickets for this performance will be available at £10.

Since opening in December 2023, the play has won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Play, the Olivier Awards for Best Entertainment and Best Set Design, and the Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Set Design and Most Promising Newcomer.

Earlier this year it opened on Broadway, where it went on to win four Tony Awards including a special award for Illusions and Technical Effects, and is currently booking at the Marquis Theater until March 2026.

Written by Kate Trefry, from an original story by the Duffer Brothers, Jack Thorne and Trefry, Stranger Things: The First Shadow is directed by Stephen Daldry with co-direction from Justin Martin.

The creative team also features set design by Miriam Buether, costume design by Brigitte Reiffenstuel, lighting design by Jon Clark, sound design by Paul Arditti, original music composition, orchestration, arrangements and supervision by D.J. Walde, illusions design and visual effects by Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher, video design and visual effects by 59 Studio, choreography by Coral Messam, movement direction by Lynne Page, wigs, hair and make-up design by Campbell Young Associates, technical director Gary Beestone for Gary Beestone Associates, props supervision by Mary Halliday, dialect coaching by William Conacher, casting by Jessica Ronane Casting CDG and international casting consultancy by Jim Carnahan.

Set in 1959 Hawkins, Indiana, the play explores the Creel family’s attempt to start anew as their son Henry becomes entangled in events that foreshadow the horrors of Stranger Things.

The show will now run at the Phoenix Theatre until 5 April 2026.