Are you ready to go behind the scenes of the Stranger Things play? 

Friends don’t lie. The documentary Behind the Curtain: Stranger Things: The First Shadow will follow the cast and crew of the West End hit in the lead-up to opening night, Dec. 14, 2023, at the Phoenix Theatre. Watch the trailer above before diving into the documentary, which is now streaming on Netflix.

“The first time we saw the play, we were blown away,” says Ross Duffer, co-creator of Stranger Things. Adds co-creator Matt Duffer, “They pulled everything off and then some. It was one of the most thrilling experiences of our lives.”

In the documentary, you can step into the Upside Down with the production team and feel the rush as they race against time to prepare the ambitious, boundary-pushing stage show for its London debut amid mounting anticipation from fans and critics. Click through some photos from the production below.

“The challenge is to create a visceral experience for the audience, where they feel shock and awe, surprise and delight,” says Stephen Daldry, the Tony–winning director of the stage play. “You have to deliver that. The fusion of television and theater is about the speed of [the] narrative and how you create it … There are moments in the show where you will think, ‘I don’t understand how they did that.’ ”

The documentary is directed by Jon Halperin; produced by Angus Wall, Kent Kubena, and Terry Leonard; and executive produced by Matt Bell. 

The Olivier Award–winning West End stage show comes to Broadway this year. Previews begin March 28, and it opens on April 22 at the Marriott Marquis Theater. Get tickets for the show now at StrangerThingsBroadway.com.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow is based on an original story by the Duffer brothers, Jack Thorne (Enola Holmes 2), and Kate Trefry, though it remains rooted in the mythology and world of the Stranger Things series. The new play is written by Trefry and directed by Daldry and co-directed by Justin Martin. The play is produced by Netflix and Sonia Friedman Productions. The Duffer brothers are creative producers, with Shawn Levy for 21 Laps Entertainment and Dan Cohen as associate producers.

The idea to turn Stranger Things into a play started with Stephen Daldry approaching the Duffer brothers in 2019. “We assumed he wanted to adapt Season 1 into a musical,” says Matt Duffer. “Turns out he wanted to tell an original story, which was very exciting to us.” 

The creative team landed on the origin story of Season 4’s Big Bad, Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower). “It took us a while to find it, but while working on Season 4, we found the answer in the character of Vecna/Henry Creel,” says Matt Duffer. “He’s so complex, with such a dense backstory, that we actually needed more [space] to explore him. We finally had a story worth putting on stage.”

Check out the plot of Stranger Things: The First Shadow below:

“Before the world turned upside down. Hawkins, 1959: a regular town with regular worries. Young Jim Hopper’s car won’t start, Bob Newby’s sister won’t take his radio show seriously, and Joyce Maldonado just wants to graduate and get the hell out of town. When new student Henry Creel arrives, his family finds that a fresh start isn’t so easy … and the shadows of the past have a very long reach.”

Henry’s backstory in the play also relates to Season 5 — or, as the Duffers describe it, the beginning of the end. 

“The goal of the play was always to enhance Season 5,” says Ross Duffer. “While Season 5 explores Henry’s backstory, the play provides a much deeper understanding of who he was — and how and why he became Vecna.”

Louis McCartney, who originated the role of Henry Creel on the West End, will reprise his performance on Broadway. For his stage debut, McCartney earned the 2024 Stage Debut Award for Best Performer in a Play and the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer. (Learn more about McCartney and the rest of the Broadway cast here.)

While the TV series and the play are very intertwined, fans can enjoy the play as a standalone experience. “While being familiar with Stranger Things will certainly deepen your understanding of the play, it was designed to work independently, requiring no prior knowledge of the show,” says Ross Duffer. Matt Duffer adds, “Ultimately, this is the origin story of Henry Creel. The beginning of everything. Which is the perfect place to start!”

To learn more about the play’s plot and how it ties back to the original Stranger Things TV series, read Tudum’s official guide here. And catch up on every episode of Stranger Things now, only on Netflix.

Obsessed With All Things ‘Stranger Things’?From behind-the-scenes photos to video interviews to breaking news, Tudum is home to everything you need to know about your favorite show.