[upbeat electronic music playing]

[upbeat music continues]

[bells tolling]

[machine cranking] ♪ I don't know how you've been feeling ♪ ♪ I've been feeling upside down ♪ ♪ I don't know how you've been feeling ♪ Tonight is our night. ♪ I've been feeling upside down ♪

[Fallon] Get this. Today Netflix said they're premiering a Stranger Things play. Right now, a team of choreographers is hard at work teaching a Demogorgon how to jazz hands.

[audience laughs]

[upbeat music continues]

[woman] You'll see what the world thinks of us, and most importantly, you'll feel it in the house. How are they gonna pull this off in the theater?

[clamoring] ♪ The Upside Down ♪ ♪ The Upside Down ♪

[camera shutters clicking]

[indistinct chatter] We will be reviewed, so keep your wits about you.

[upbeat music continues]

[indistinct chatter]

[announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. The show will begin in five minutes.

[upbeat music continues]

[man 1] Nerves on the first night are the worst.

[man 2] I think I always like to think I'm just like a killer, that I don't get nervous, but I think I probably do. ♪ The Upside Down ♪ Have a good show. Rock and roll, baby. Yeah, baby. Rock and roll. That's what I'm ******* talking about.

[man 3] People have tried to do horror, tried to do monsters on stage, and most of the time, it doesn't work.

[indistinct chatter]

[woman 1] It's the most nervous I've ever been in my life.

Gotta go.

[indistinct chatter]

[upbeat music continues]

[music stops]

[Stranger Things theme music playing]

[audience cheering]

[cheering fades]

[dramatic whooshing]

[faint crackling]

[music stops]

[gentle music playing]

[woman] Hey. Are we all here? Okay, it's six o'clock. We are all meeting for the first time for Stranger Things: The First Shadow.

[cheering, applause] It's probably the biggest, most technical, most exciting design that I've ever seen and I think that audiences will ever experience. So thank you to everybody. I'm gonna hand over to Stephen. Uh, thank-- Oh my gosh. Thanks everybody. Uh, yeah, this is a bit like base camp. Um, you know, we've been climbing up from Kathmandu for some months, and we've still got a mountain to climb, but I'm delighted that we've got to this point. Matt and Ross, I was trying to remember when we first talked about this all those years ago. It was not that long after season one Netflix mentioned that Stephen Daldry was interested in doing a play of Stranger Things. We were like, "Wait. What? What are you talking about?" Like Billy Elliot Stephen Daldry, The Crown Stephen Daldry? And you've got Sonia Friedman, who has I don't know how many shelves of Tonys and Oliviers. I don't know why initially we were like, "Oh, Stephen's…" "It's like gonna be a musical of, like, season one." Stephen's like, "No, you morons. This is gonna be a new story."

[Ross] We started spitballing with Stephen about what this story could be. And that really is how The First Shadow came about. When it really kicked into high gear was when Kate got involved. And Kate is such an integral part of Stranger Things. She is really a secret weapon for the show. But like us, she knew nothing about the theater world and nothing about plays. But, uh, one thing I love about Kate is just how fearless she is. I read Kate's scripts, and I go, "I don't know how we'd do this on film." I don't know how in the world you guys are gonna do this on stage. But I can't wait to see. [laughs] I just want to say once again thank you so much for entrusting us with your story. We'll, uh, try to do you proud.

[cheering, applause]

Thank you.

[indistinct chatter]

[producer] Kate, why don't you, in your own words, tell me what The First Shadow is. Okay. Um, this is this, uh…

[blabbers] Let me think about this for a second.

[dramatic music playing] The First Shadow is the Stranger Things play. It's a prequel that's set in 1959.

[Kate] It's about all of these characters from the show. Who was Hopper before he was such a dick? Who was Joyce before she was so neurotic?

[Jonathan] Mom.

What?

[Kate] And who was Bob before he died?

[Bob yells]

[loud screech] It's the origin play. We see a bit of the start of the story, really explaining the backstory to Henry, also known as Number One, also known as Vecna.

[growls]

[Ross] He meets Patty, who is the sister of Bob Newby. It's both a love story and also, of course, because it's Stranger Things, uh, a supernatural story. So really, like the show, it's juggling multiple storylines, and it's all building hopefully to a surprising and emotional conclusion. And listen, there are also, you know, some not-so-subtle hints as to what is to come in season five and beyond.

[music stops]

[indistinct chatter]

[Stephen] Welcome to this crazy room that we're in. This is a workshop process where the play is developed with the actors.

[Oscar] Essentially, it's like pre-rehearsals. We will get together a bunch of actors, uh, who may not necessarily be the actors who end up doing the full play, kind of reading it aloud for the first time so it's not Kate just, you know, being every character in her bedroom, which I'm sure she did before this. So I'm Justin. I'm one of the directors.

I'm Stephen. I'm one of the directors.

I'm Kate. I'm the writer. I'm Louis, workshop Henry Creel. I'm Amma. Uh, not sure today who I'm playing.

[Justin] Mum. Patty's mum.

Patty's mum.

[Justin] Slash scary mum.

Scary mum.

[producer chuckles] You pointing at me?

Yeah.

[producer] Oh sorry.

[laughter] Okay, I'm G. I'm, uh, filming this.

[laughter]

[Stephen] So should we have a little read of this in your play scripts? And we'll see what we can come up with.

[man] I have some very exciting news for you today. We finally had a breakthrough on the blood work. A subject survived the transfusion.

[Kate] I didn't know what a workshop was before I arrived. I felt pretty good about the script. I had no idea the amount of work that I still had to do on it. It's time for you to meet your brother. What happens now is that we all just sit here and think about it.

[laughter] And eventually, we manage to get it on its feet and start to have a go. But we-- We sort of, um… We have to, um, imagine it a bit.

Hello.

Hello. Um, let's just move our chairs to the side, and then I'll try to work out an idea.

[Kate] All right.

[Stephen] I'm not sure about this idea.

[woman 1] This is clean. Yeah? You should start singing, but sing softly…

[woman 2] Okay.

…so we know it's just on the radio.

[woman 2] ♪ Said you'll tell me… ♪

Is that in the room or in my ear?

It's in the room.

[laughter] What he's doing is he's bringing Henry out of the… Somewhere in the lab, yeah? Somewhere nicely downstage.

[upbeat music playing]

[Kate] When you first throw it up, it's a mess. Everything's a mess, and it looks crazy. And you think that you didn't do anything right.

[indistinct chatter] It sounds dumb. It looks dumb. This isn't a play. I don't know what this is, but I hate it. And then, Stephen and Justin, who are these mad scientists, come in and do their magic.

[Stephen] Has anyone seen my cat? So harmonized bee sound.

Mm! Bees are looking for the honey. Mm…

[laughter]

[vocalizes]

[Kate] They're crazy, but in the best way. …here. More stuff can go here. We could go… We could go over here. Maybe I can create something funny with this trunk at the end of the scene.

This is the game. Ready?

This is the game? Watch it, watch it. Ah-ah! Don't touch it.

[mumbling]

[chuckling]

Everybody's gonna bring their chairs on.

[woman] Whoohoo!

[Kate] I mean, it's chaotic.

[shrieks]

[Kate] But I also… I love chaos. The little thing is going, "Beep, beep, beep." Oh whoa!

[meows] Then you'll come down here and go like that.

[Kate] Stephen is almost like superhuman. And then the key line is, "I'm not gonna hurt you." [laughs] Stop. You're going round the back of the locker as you're coming in that way.

[Kate] And it is like a full sprint just to keep up.

[upbeat music continues] Are we running the shuffle? New scene 14. I don't think you need a lot. I think you need a tiny bit. The scene is gonna change a little bit.

[laughing] So who sings which line? I've forgotten.

[Kate] I'm too busy to think about the pressure. I can't see past my fingertips.

[yawns]

[indistinct chatter]

[Stephen] Are you all right?

I think it's ******* great. That seemed great to me. I think we're done.

[Justin] There's something at the end.

[laughter]

Well done, everybody. Well busked.

[Kate] Well done.

[Stephen] Everybody's stressed because there is never any time. There is not enough time.

[dramatic music playing]

[Sonia] At 7:00 p.m. on December the 14th, the curtain will go up.

[Justin] Right now, we are in the workshop trying to work out the stage language of the show. And, uh, Kate's working a lot on the script, so we're sort of refining everything. It's made more complicated by the fact we're also in the middle of casting.

[Sonia] So then the rehearsals are the actual cast. And we have six weeks together to explore the play.

[dramatic music continues] So next, the entire company moves into the theater for what we call technical rehearsals. This is when everything starts to come together. The illusions, the music, the costumes, the set, the automation, everything. It's a very stressful time. Then after four weeks of tech, that's when the public join us for previews. There's this understanding that the work is still in progress and it may very well change and go wrong. After four weeks of preview, we open the show, and we start getting the reviews in.

[Stephen] Could be we open in London and we shut ten days later because nobody wants to come. That might be the case.

[dramatic music builds]

[music pulsating]

[clock ticking] There's a shitload of stuff to do. Yeah, overall, we are behind in design both on the theater, and we're behind on the trips. Those are our big areas of worry.

[Sonia] Can I just ask about the script? Kate, you're still furiously rewriting every day.

[Kate] Yep.

[Sonia] It's just keeping on top of it, because I have to send it to Netflix 'cause they haven't seen a draft for ages.

[indistinct chatter]

[Kate] TV and theater, they are completely different mediums, and I am just being bombarded with that truth every day. We have a joke in the writers' room that, like, every new scene in a Stranger Things script starts with "joom."

[Dustin] Oh my God, that was priceless!

[Kate] Or, like, "zoom." Like car tires on the road.

[sizzling] And ends with shared looks between people. Shared looks. Nancy and Jonathan share looks. And you literally can't do either of those things on stage. There's no close-up, and there's no montage, and there's no hard cut ever. Three, two, one. Go.

[clattering]

[man] Oh, pretty good. 1.8… [laughs] …so we've cut off .2 of a second. Pretty good. There's a lot of pressure because there are huge expectations around this. It's Stranger Things, and we've got to deliver something incredible. I think that's our challenge, is that we do need to try and create the magnitude of effect that you see on the show live on stage happening eight times a week.

[mysterious music playing]

[Chris] We work with prop companies, special effects companies, so we've been designing certain things and tasking companies to try and create these 3D effects that we can then put into a world mixed with lighting, mixed with video.

[mysterious music continues]

[Jamie] It's gonna be an open wound, and some spiders' legs will pop out.

[Chris] When Jamie and I worked on Harry Potter, we were pushing the boundaries of what has been achieved on stage. And I think we both felt at the time we'll never get a chance to do this again. And then suddenly, here we are working on Stranger Things. It's really exciting. [chuckles]

[G] What's the illusion you're trying to make here? The story, um, point is that there's an experiment happening, the Philadelphia Experiment.

[dramatic sting] A ship, the USS Eldridge, um, vanishes and jumps to another dimension.

[dramatic sting] It's almost like we're in a close-up if it were a film. We're with them on the bridge, and the whole bridge, including the crew, vanish.

[dramatic sting]

[man 1] Stand by, please, everybody…

[Jamie] It's one thing being able to make something vanish. It's another thing doing it in the speed that we are.

[Jamie] Okay. And three, two, one. Go.

[clattering]

[man 2] Was that two seconds?

[laughter]

[man 3] Was that two seconds?

[Jamie] Okay. And then the big reveal after that is we make the ship appear afterwards…

[dramatic sting] …in another dimension, we hope.

[laughs] That's the next phase.

[clock ticking]

[tense music playing]

[Sonia] What's happening in the auditorium? It's one of our notes, one of my big conversations about what are we doing about the auditorium because we do…

[Sonia] Stranger Things is the biggest challenge of my career to date.

[man] Yeah.

[Sonia] This sort of horror, thriller, sci-fi genre is untried and untested in theater. I'm concerned that the critics coming won't have a bloody clue about Stranger Things, alongside delivering on the expectations of the fans who are coming for a Stranger Things experience. I think that is quite a hard thing to crack. Now, have we got-- You've got really-- Have you all-- We might need new pages. Have we-- Have we got new pages? If it says scene 17 is the first thing, ignore that and go to scene 18.

[Stephen] Thank you.

[tense music playing]

[Kate] I've rewritten this play 100,000 times. I would say top-to-bottom at least, like, 25 times, or something like 35. I don't know. And it's just, uh… It's very much a living, breathing thing.

[actress] Don't touch me! Get away from me!

[Stephen] All right. Okay, they're off. Now we've got to work out what we're doing with Henry. I don't know. I was trying to work out if he says anything in that, just so that we get the attention back on him.

[Sonia] Unbelievable challenge to put on stage a boy, Henry, who ends up being a serial killer…

[dramatic rumble]

[Sonia chuckles softly] …and for us to care about him. Oh! You're-- You're bleeding, Henry. Let me help you.

[Sonia] Which is why the play has just kept on being written and rewritten and rewritten and rewritten.

[Kate] This story, like, fundamentally is close to my heart. I was a dark cloud of a teenager, and things could've turned out differently for me. And I'm… I'm desperate to get it right. And I think we will. I think we're on our way.

[ominous music playing]

[high-pitched ringing]

[ringing fades]

[Kate] I had been grinding in Hollywood for, like, ten years, and… I mean, I was making snow cones. That was my job. I wrote, and I made snow cones for fancy child birthday parties. And I was kind of, like, over it, and I was moving back to Alaska, where I'm from.

[pensive music playing] The Duffers called me up and brought me on to the show. First and foremost, they are story geniuses, and… I, like-- I miss them. Like-- Ugh, don't tell them I said that. But, um, I miss them and their incredible brains. Okay. Okay.

[inhales deeply]

[exhales]

[clock ticking]

[Justin] We've cast Patty, who's one of our leads.

[Ella] I'm so, so, so excited and happy to be here. This is my first professional theater job, and I feel so lucky for that to be Stranger Things. I was in elementary school when it came out, and so the first season absolutely terrified me.

[yells]

[distorted whirring] Obviously, my friends are all wondering why I moved to London, and I'm like, "Oh, I can't tell you." Listen to me. My whole life, I've been the girl from nowhere, the one nobody wants, but… But then I met you, and I swear to God, for the first time, I felt--

[man] Connected. That's right. And as of today, hopefully, we've cast our Henry.

[upbeat music playing]

[Louis] I'm shooting a soap opera up north, and, uh, they've been flying me out on my off days doing these audition workshop/things, not knowing what's going on.

[Louis] When your father used to lock you in the closet and the spiders would come…

[Louis] I'm here. I'm biting my nails, and, uh, about three days ago, I got the call, and they said, you know, "Congrats. Well done. You got the part." This is my first stage performance.

[Ella] I'm not afraid of you!

[Louis] Well, it feels, um, otherworldly, like Stranger Things. It feels like I've been transported to the other side. It doesn't feel real. The fear had already taken root. It has been eating you for years, and now your mind is so weak, so fragile, so soft.

[in gravelly voice] Where's your sweet little boy now?

[Louis] There's something twisted deep inside Henry Creel, and I'm able to, I don't know, hopefully connect to that. Patty… we have to stop. You get out of here!

[Justin] Louis' got that danger and that troubled kid, which is really great for Henry. Then Ella has the sort of sunshine. So we've got two really strong leads, and it's exciting to go, "Okay, we've got the tentpoles of our show." And then, you know, you just start seeing it come together.

[clock ticking] We're here at Sadler's Wells Theatre, and we're auditioning many-- Twenty-three roles, actually, today. It's quite tense 'cause it's our penultimate day of auditions, and we still have how many to cast?

[Justin] Twentythree.

Twentythree actors to cast. Only 23.

[Sonia] It's easy.

[Kate] I'm not worried. I'm not worried at all.

[laughing] Kate's not worried.

[G]

Just don't even start with me.

[laughter]

[Justin] All right, let's get going.

[Sonia] Yeah.

I'm just gonna move this chair.

[Sonia] Do whatever you like. Yeah, I might start sat, and is it okay if I get up if I want to?

[Justin] Of course.

[woman] You're bossy, obsessive, shrill.

[scoffs] Shrill? Shrill.

Shrill?

Shrill? You're a self-aggrandizing… …egomaniac meathead. You're a phase girls go through to realize the big secret. All men are just scared little boys. That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Wow, okay. Wow. That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Is this about the play, or is this about the boy? Joyce, I have something to tell you, and I need to tell you now. Otherwise, I might lose my nerve.

[Sonia] You've seen so many, and you've turned down them all. So we don't actually know what it is you're looking for.

[pensive music playing] What we want is, um… We want Daniel Day-Lewis.

[woman] The other day he was ranting about demons.

Wow.

Wow. Wow. That is a lot to take in.

[Stephen] You're always gonna get that from him.

[indistinct chatter]

[woman] I heard you made out with your cousin last summer.

[laughs] That is a goddamn lie, Patty.

[Stephen]

[Kate] Cut it out! Save it for the big day, John. I'm in love, okay? I'm in love. Okay?

[Stephen] Great.

[laughter]

[Stephen] We'll let you know. Hey, team. It's just been announced. We are in the cast of… Stranger Things: The First Shadow. Whoo!

[woman] No shock whatsoever. No concern.

[indistinct chatter]

[woman] Whee!

[indistinct chatter continues]

[Justin] Thanks, guys. Let's be where we're gonna be. Shut that door.

[Stephen] Okay, thank you, guys. All right.

[Justin] And here we go. And let's roll, please. Let's roll. So I'm Oscar Lloyd, and I play Jim Hopper Jr. in Stranger Things: The First Shadow. My name is Isabella Pappas, and I play Joyce Maldonado. Hi, my name's Christopher Buckley, and I play Bob Newby. Well, my name is Lou McCartney, and I'm playing young Henry Creel. Uh, my name is Patrick Vaill, and I play Dr. Brenner. Hi, I'm Ella Karuna Williams, and I play Patty Newby in Stranger Things: The First Shadow.

[G] Oh, I lost my mind. I was on a flight, and I found out, and the plane took off. I can't and still cannot believe that I'm-- That I'm here right now. And I was just, like, scream-- I wasn't screaming, but I wanted to be screaming so badly. If I wasn't on a plane, I would've been. I still haven't been able to really tell anyone. I mean, I did tell my mom. I told her. I don't know if I was allowed to do that. I didn't tell anyone else. She hasn't told anyone else.

[synthwave music playing]

Oh!

Hello! Damn!

Damn.

[Ella] Remember we started laughing! Kemi! Look at you.

Wait, is it hot in here or something?

Yeah.

[clock ticking]

Good morning.

Hello.

[G] Morning. How are you?

Morning. Oh my God, stop. I'm joking. [laughs] We are starting rehearsal for Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which is so exciting! It's a powerful handheld radio. They used them in the war to communicate with the front. Oh, okay, okay! So you're saying that if someone in Hawkins was using one…

[Kate] We just started rehearsal, so, you know, the pressure's kind of starting to turn up. But we have our whole cast now, so it's, like, a relief to have the people who are actually gonna be doing it doing it.

[Isabella] Oh my God, you are… And anyway, just because you get it with a guy, make it with a guy, doesn't mean you have to marry him. Ew, Karen, that's nasty.

[Kate] Something that I kind of worried about was that people would try to do impressions of the characters in the show.

[Oscar] Greater Indiana Nerd Rescue Scholarship…

[Kate] But they've all come at it with totally fresh, more raw versions of what we know and love.

This is not just a play!

[Christopher] Yeah.

This is a revolution!

[crowd] Yeah. So if you're here to make out in some high school musical…

[crowd] Yeah! …you should leave now!

[Isabella] The realization that I'm playing this character really only just hit me. I get to play young Winona Ryder. That's amazing! I never thought I'd be able to say that. She's such a huge inspiration for me. I mean, I always looked up to her growing up. Can someone get me a ******* lighter? Every scene I have, I think I'm probably yelling at someone, which is really fun. It's great. It's very cathartic.

[yells]

[upbeat music playing] Why am I holding an axe? Keep track of your props, people! Goddamn it!

[man] Junior! Stop screwing around with that piece of shit!

You're gonna miss the bus.

Don't call me that.

[Oscar] We're meeting Hopper at 18. He hasn't dealt with the death of his daughter, so we're seeing a very different side to him.

Don't call me Junior.

[murmurs]

[Oscar] What David Harbour does is incredible and untouchable, and I'd fail if I tried to do an impression. Okay.

[upbeat music continues]

[Oscar] Thousands of different actors have played Hamlet over the years, or Romeo, and I guess this is my Hopper, rather than trying to do David Harbour. News flash! Awooga! Awooga! A little paper was just published arguing for the existence of extraterrestrial life in our universe. Crazy?

[horn blows]

Maybe.

[Christopher] It's wild to be stepping into the shoes left by Sean Astin, 'cause he's been an idol of mine since I was, like, a kid. So, what I did with my character work for Bob is look back at season 2, see what Sean does, but not try to imitate, sort of see what sort of person would start out in maybe a different way and end up like Sean in the show.

[music fades]

[clock ticking]

[indistinct chatter]

[Louis] Kate has been working on the script a lot, and this morning, she delivered a whole new script to us. Henry's journey is much more clear.

[soft music playing]

[Louis] It's a really sad story, getting to see this little boy be broken down and basically made into this monster.

[dramatic music playing]

[breathes shakily]

[Louis] Jamie Campbell Bower, he does a spectacular job at playing this psychotic evil sort of lurking deep inside, but that's the TV show. What we're trying to explore here is this sort of compassionate Henry Creel who feels things, which is quite surprising.

[Louis groans]

[Stephen] The little boy who's fighting with a monster, whether to embrace the monster or to reject the monster, for young people, I think it's a character that they really recognize.

[Ella] Henry! I know you're in there, okay? Come back!

[Stephen] Even as adults, we look at it and recognize the battles that we went through and sometimes we're still suffering the consequences of.

[Ella] Remember the day we met?

[rumbling]

[thunder rumbles]

[dramatic music plays]

Now, why are we seeing a Demogorgon now?

Okay, can I just stop you right now? Yes. I just got off the phone with the guys and--

It's all changed.

No. It's just gonna be… Whatever we want it to be, it's gonna be, like, 80% less. We're gonna be able to do, like, 80% less. We're gonna be able to tell very little of the story of…

[bleep] We're gonna be able to say that something happened, um, but we're really not gonna be able to say that much. Because? Because they want to preserve the reveal for Season 5… [bleep]

The reveal of… [bleep]

[Kate] Yeah. Um, so when… I'm very aware of the clock, but also we gotta get it right.

[speaking indistinctly]

[Kate] It doesn't bother me to have to, like, lay down the law. The thing that I find really interesting is that he's learning that he can make fantasies happen.

[Kate] I think you're… I mean, I hear you. Um, I think you're treading on thin mythological ice.

[Kate] I know all the rules. I know them like I was born with them. So yeah, sometimes we have to, like, sit down and do a little school. Stranger Things school. This is sci-fi, guys. This is science fiction, not fantasy.

[synthwave music playing]

[clock ticking]

[indistinct chatter]

[Christopher] We're in the final week of rehearsals, so it's been a lot of running the show, getting it all up and in place. Next week, we're finally at the Phoenix Theatre. Hey, baby.

[Christopher] Tomorrow, we're doing a full run-through, and we're doing it in front of the Duffer Brothers. That's wild, innit? I can't believe the Duffers are gonna be here tomorrow. [laughs] It's the most insane thing!

[dramatic music playing]

[Louis] We have been racing, racing, racing to get to our deadline. It's taken a lot of work and a lot of grit and a lot of holding your temper in.

[dramatic music continues]

[Kate] The Duffer Brothers have no poker face. Collective poker face, no poker faces. So they're really easy to read, which is great and, uh, gnarly. Stuff that doesn't work, like, that I know that doesn't work, it's just right there. It's just-- And there's two of them. So there's two of them right there. One for each eyeball that you just wanna gouge out.

[loud shriek]

[Kate] Hey!

[man] What? What'd he say?

[indistinct chatter]

[Stephen] Just a few obvious things. We have been doing changes all the way through, so some of the changes we only put in this morning. So, uh, what you're seeing is where we're up to right now. These people aren't here. This is just the wings of the theater, and we have no mics on the actors.

And we have no illusions.

[Stephen] And we have no illusions. Certain things, because we have no illusions, won't be clear. Clear so far?

[laughter]

Ready?

[whirring]

[switch clicks] Good morning, Hawkins, Indiana!

[dinging] A little paper was just published arguing the existence of extraterrestrial life in our universe. Crazy? Maybe. But between that…

[synthwave music playing]

[synthwave music continues]

[music builds]

[music fades]

[Stephen] Blackout.

[Stephen chuckles softly]

[coughs]

[applause]

[cheering]

[Stephen]

[Kate]

[Kate speaking indistinctly]

[Stephen] The good news is we have a show, so that's good news.

[laughter]

[Matt] The only thing I don't like about it is that you kind of took Kate away from us. We were still working on Season 5.

[laughter]

[Kate]

[Matt] It's true.

Thank you.

[applause] Thank you.

[Stephen] Thanks for looking after us. It was a pleasure to work with you.

♪ Sweet dreams are made of this ♪

[G] ♪ Made of this ♪

♪ Who am I to disagree? ♪

[G] ♪ To disagree? ♪ ♪ I travel the world and the seven seas ♪

[both] ♪ Everybody Is looking for something ♪

[G] Bye! Bye.

[G] See you at the theater!

["Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by Sebastian Böhm playing]

[indistinct chatter]

[man] Upside down, innit? [laughs]

[Isabella] Hi.

Hi.

[cheering]

[Louis] After six weeks rehearsing in that black box, this is our reward. Yes! Oh no, it's him again!

["Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" continues]

[indistinct chatter]

[music stops]

[clock ticking]

First. Spread out.

Are we the first?

Yeah.

How cool. Come through. Spread out.

That's exciting, innit?

Good morning.

Wow.

Wow. Very cool, innit? Oh, it's lovely. Yeah, it's nice.

[indistinct chatter]

[Louis] The Phoenix Theatre is old, and it's-- It's dark, and it has this almost, like, mystic energy around it, and Stranger Things is much of the very same. And I just saw the play as I walked in, and I was just like, "This is just right." Where are you guys gonna hide?

[Justin] Okay. Hello, everyone.

[cheering]

[Stephen] This theater is the Phoenix Theatre. It was opened by Noël Coward, who was in his first ever production here of Private Lives. Well, it opened in 1930. The great master was here on these very boards. What's lovely about this theater is you're not looking up there. It is really intimate. It's a really lovely theater for us.

[ethereal music playing]

[Sonia] If you walk into a theater auditorium during a technical rehearsal, it will look like mission control center.

[ethereal music continues] So we're in the stalls. This is where everyone will be based for the next four weeks for the technical rehearsals. Right here we've got Elliot, who's our lighting programmer on the lighting desk.

[ethereal music continues] We've got sound up the back there.

[loud banging]

[crackling] We've got our video department over here.

[ethereal music continues] This is where Stephen and Justin will be sat for the next four weeks working with the company close to the stage so they can get up and down quickly.

[woman] …Stranger Things company, that's less than 15 minutes until you're due on stage. Uh, we are basically teching this. It's the semi-opening of the show. There's one scene before this, but this is kind of where a lot of the main characters get, like, introduced. Okay, so now we're going onto the stage, so I have to be quiet. But yeah, so this is backstage. It's really tight. It's very cramped.

[Christopher] …with me! Your musical maestro, a whiz kid of the airwaves. Look out!

[propeller whirs] Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's… [mimics echo] …Bob "The Brain" Newby!

[Gary]

[Christopher] Uh, um…

[woman laughs]

[Christopher] It's a strange mix of sort of joyful exuberance and painful, painful, aggravated boredom. We should do it again if we've got time.

[dramatic music playing]

[electricity fizzling]

[dramatic sting]

[dramatic music continues] Oh shit! That's supposed to be a firecracker, but… [laughs]

[dramatic music continues]

[glass shatters]

[music stops]

[Justin] So, we're at day three of our tech.

[G] There's a sense of manic excitement and pressure in the building, right? Manic excitement, and we've got to keep this up for a month.

[dramatic music fades]

[groans]

[distorted] Look at me!

[G] Yeah, man?

[G] This is, uh, spiders.

[eerie music playing]

[screams]

[G] What happens in the spider sequence?

We can't say, G.

[G] Well, you can.

We can't.

[G] Can you not?

No.

[G] I think you can. It's a-- It's an illusion surprise.

[Louis] You won't call the police.

[Chris] How can we create spiders? There are lots of different approaches that you might take to that.

[woman crying] You're too afraid! The fear had already taken root! It's been eating you for years!

[Sonia]

[Chris] How do we create that reliably every night, eight shows a week, on stage? And, um, we're still working that one out. Spiders are gonna be the death of me, I think.

[mysterious music playing]

[G] What's happening? This is my life. It's, like, spiders and blood. We've got these spider props, and they just keep going missing. I think someone must like spiders around here because every single time I put a spider down, it's gone.

[mysterious music continues]

[laughs]

[clock ticking] ♪ I don't know how you've been feeling ♪

[all] ♪ I don't know How you've been feeling ♪

[woman] ♪ I've been feeling upside down ♪

[all] ♪ I've been feeling upside down ♪

[woman] ♪ I don't know… ♪ We are attempting to run Act One for the first time in full sequence. Uh, we've done small sections. We've built it up scene by scene and then ran certain longer sections and busier sections, but we've never put it all together in one run.

[all] ♪ In the Upside Down ♪ It's gonna be bumpy. It's the first time we've linked everything together, and actually, we've got a few bits and pieces…

[loud bangs, whirs]

Um… …that we're still sort of developing and refining.

[all] ♪ In the Upside Down ♪ Cigarettes. Coffee.

[loud whirs]

[laughs]

[G] We're about to run Act One, aren't we, mate? Are we? [laughs] Great. I can't wait to see that.

[loud whir in background]

[G] What are we, uh… What are we about to do? Don't even think about that, you cheeky ******.

[laughing]

[popping]

All good?

No idea if it's charged.

Good luck to you.

[man] Thank you. Good luck to you.

[ominous music playing]

[indistinct chatter in background]

[ominous music continues, builds]

[music fades]

[Christopher] Good morning, Hawkins, Indiana!

[dinging]

[boy 1] Hawkins High is pretty simple really. You've got your chicks. Hi, ladies. Go **** yourself, Henderson.

You've got your losers.

[boy 2] Yes, yes, baby. And you've got your morons. When you were a little girl and the spiders would come…

[ominous music continues]

[woman screams]

[Christopher] No, just wait! Just-- Hold on, stop taking off! I'll deal with it! Please! Wait, wait, wait! Hold on!

[dramatic music playing]

[loud crackling] Where are you?

[dramatic music continues]

[Ella] What do you see? Hello, Henry. I'm Dr. Brenner. I'm here to help.

[ominous music plays, stops]

[man] Cut.

[door opens]

[chuckles, breathes deeply] And there we go. Act One tech run done.

[Stephen] Are we all set?

[Gary] Quiet.

[Stephen] I'm aware that, um…

[Gary]

[Stephen]

[Louis]

[Stephen]

[loud screech]

[Stephen]

[Gary] Correct.

[man 1] Happy Halloween.

[woman] Happy Halloween.

[man 2] Yeah.

[whirring]

[G] Uh, we are trying to get all of our notes done. We are trying not to lose our minds.

[clock ticking rapidly] We are welcoming the stars of Stranger Things, the play. Last week, I couldn't sleep because it hit me. I was like, "God, there's gonna be audiences very, very, very soon."

[upbeat music playing]

[upbeat music continues]

[music fades]

[G] Who's this? Um, this is Virginia.

[dramatic music plays]

[bones cracking]

[G] She doesn't look very happy. She's probably not, to be honest.

[mysterious music plays]

[loud cracking]

[dramatic music playing]

You're a new character, aren't you?

It's really exciting, yeah. I don't know how much I can say about her. I don't want to give too much away.

[dramatic music continues]

[Kate] How's it going?

Great to see you.

[Kate] I had no idea you'd be here.

No one told you?

No. Is everybody in, like, a daily, just, suppressed panic mode right now?

[Kate] It's not that suppressed.

Oh, okay. Overt panic.

It's not that suppressed.

It's pretty surface level. Yeah.

Okay.

[dramatic music continues]

[inaudible]

[Chris]

[Jamie] Yeah, yeah.

[indistinct chatter]

[dramatic music continues]

[music stops]

[clock ticking]

[Sonia] This is a week before our first preview. I'm going to isolate things that have to be done before we go in front of an audience.

[indistinct chatter]

[Sonia] It's exactly like a first preview priority. Why didn't Louis have any blood? We never saw any blood on his nose at any point during that.

[Sonia] It's not-- It's genuinely not a first preview thing.

[Gary] Great.

[Sonia] I'm calling that. It's not.

Okay. Fine.

[Sonia] I had many, many people coming to me, begging me, urging me, saying I had to cancel the first preview.

[Stephen] I'm really determined not to do that, because as soon as you get the audience in, another character emerges, which is how the audience responds.

[Stephen] Keep going…

[Sonia] Everybody's looking to me to make the right call.

[dramatic music continues]

[Sonia] We are literally running out of time now. I'm-- I'm hoping this scene will help me understand what's going on.

That's what I'm about to show you.

Yes.

[Stephen] When there isn't enough time and we're struggling to get the story told, that is the white heat of anxiety. It's the white heat of stress. Can you just show me the projection and just give me a time frame on that?

[Sonia] Okay.

[man coughs] So there's this, guys. Watching, everybody watching. That goes, that goes there, and then you bring up this light and stay here, yeah?

[vocalizing] Can you hear that? You're flat. All right. Stop, stop.

[Louis] Three weeks ago, we had a different play. Three weeks before that, we had a different play. And I guess three weeks from now, we'll have a completely new ******* play.

[Sonia] It's been really hairy, and it's been really challenging, and it's been pretty stressful. Do you wanna do that again?

[soft music playing]

[Sonia] We're all really, really tired, but I have to say, in the last few days, it's turned a corner. You're gonna get one last big ****. That's it. And stop!

[Justin] We had a really successful night the night before with the structural changes. We know what this is.

[soft music continues]

[Jamie] When it works, you have something magical. You've created a moment.

[Patrick] We know that the story's special. We know that the characters are special. We know that people have been waiting and waiting and waiting for this thing, and I think people are gonna lose their minds.

[applause]

Well done.

Thanks!

[clock ticking] Yeah, well, we're here at, uh, our very first preview night. And I'm getting my hair cut. I'm getting all prepped and ready for it.

[man] We've been trying to cut it all week, but the schedule has been so tight.

[indistinct chatter]

[man]

[indistinct chatter] We're about to see whether our work passes muster with a thousand punters. I'm excited. I kind of want to puke. Ooh, right. The most important thing now is a nap. It's the day of our first preview. [groaning nervously]

[indistinct chatter]

[Isabella] It's a bit daunting. You want people to like you because, obviously, people very much like the older versions of the characters that we're portraying.

[Oscar] People always ask you, "Is it any good?" And honestly, you never really know until an audience is in.

[murmuring]

[Christopher] Before the first performance of every show I do, I touch every seat in the theater, um, to know where every single audience member is gonna sit so that I know what my theater is and where I am. I have to keep reminding myself that this is just a preview, and we still have, like, a month of time to work before the actual opening.

[drill whirring] I think it's going to be, you know, quite a challenging first preview. You wouldn't want me sitting next to you in a theater tonight, uh, because every little thing that goes wrong, I'll-- I'll be emitting this negative energy around me. Notoriously, previews can be bumpy, so we might have to have a bit of grit tonight, but, uh…

Yeah.

Hopefully not.

Yeah. There we go. Into the darkness.

[both laughing]

[Chris] Into the darkness.

[Jamie] Yeah. The poster. It looks like… Great. It looks… very cool.

[indistinct chatter]

[Matt] How are you?

Hi, hi, hi.

[Matt] How are you feeling?

Okay.

All right.

[laughter]

[Matt] I'm like, I feel nervous. I don't know why. Well, because it's your show. It's not. The live aspect of it is what's freaky to me.

[Sonia] Yeah.

Yeah.

[indistinct announcement]

Yes, we're still rehearsing. Right now.

[Ross] Right now?

[cheering]

[Kate] How's it going?

Good. Good. Um, I'm measuring her heartbeat to see how nervous she is.

Oh, oh, you're high.

Is that high? You're 108 beats per minute. What's it supposed to be? It's not like we need to take you to the emergency room, but it's not great.

[dramatic music playing]

[usher] Through the first door, please.

[indistinct chatter] You're gonna go up the stairs on the right. Enjoy the show.

[G] Where have you come from?

France.

[G] Just for the show?

Yeah.

Super excited.

Super excited.

It's his birthday, so, like, we're here

And his.

Oh yeah…

We're twins. I'm excited to learn anything about season five.

We're so excited.

So excited.

We've been obsessing over it in school.

I know. I don't really know what to expect, so fingers crossed we're in for a good show. Yeah, well, I'm so excited. I'm so ready. I can't wait. Tell me about it. ******* Brenner scenes coming for Act Two. I know!

[dramatic music continues]

[dramatic music continues]

[indistinct chatter]

[loud click]

[male voice] The following file is classified.

[dramatic whooshing]

[synthwave music playing]

[music building]

[music stops]

[Sonia] Well, we got the preview done, and I think it was, uh, a reality check. It was kind of nail-biting. Like, I literally bit my nails into blood.

[Stephen] I think we learned just about everything. What they were scared of, what they were thrilled about, what they wanted more of, what they wanted less of.

We have to cut quite a lot.

[Justin] Yeah. And restructure. And…

[Justin] Yeah, we'll have to run whatever we've done.

[pensive music playing]

[Kate] I have to cut like 20 minutes, which is not an insubstantial amount of time. Okay.

[G] How are the Duffers feeling about the ongoing process?

[Ross on phone]

[Ross] I know. I… I've been… I know. I've been fighting against that.

[Ross] Oh good. Um…

[woman] I like to think there's someone out… Did you say… "I like to think there's someone…"

[woman] "For everyone," right?

"For everyone."

[woman] I think in the script, it's "someone out there for everyone." "There's someone out there…"

[Christopher] Even though we're knackered, we're still just getting on with it. You know? Everyone's still giving their all.

[Ella] You really are a miracle, Henry.

[dramatic music playing] Hey, hey! Take that on to the street!

[Isabella] You know what? Shut up, Don! Let the lovers love! God!

[Ella] Hope you're feeling good!

[Ella shrieks, laughs]

[woman] You tried to kill her.

[dramatic music continues]

[G] All good?

[Isabella] Yeah.

[dramatic music continues]

[indistinct chatter] Can we stand by?

[Jordan] We're not performing eight shows a week. We are actually having a Monday and Tuesday with no shows, but we're still rehearsing all day.

[Patrick] I have some very exciting news for you today. Move in. Go. All of them are special.

[Kate] Act Two is long, and it feels long, and it's kind of boring.

[Stephen] I particularly hate boredom in the theater. Because when theater's great, it can be the most exciting thing you've ever seen in your life. When theater's not great, it's really, really, really, really terrible.

[Stephen]

[Louis] You're as much a father to this family--

No. I don't think you should do that.

[Louis] Okay.

[Isabella] I told you it's family only.

About that night? I already told you we are family.

[Isabella] Oh, me?

Keep going.

I already told you we are a family!

I'm calling the police.

[Christopher] Give me a second. Go ahead. Tell my dad he fights like a girl.

[Isabella] Awkward! Sorry, you're right. It's not fair to girls. We were going over a little bit of Act One, kind of changing the order of lines around so you have two scenes "melging" into one. "Melging," is that a word? Uh, melding into one rather than having two separate scenes.

[dramatic music playing]

[indistinct chatter] Preview four? Preview five? Six? Preview five or six.

[woman] Counting down! Sergeant, everything is go!

[man] Copy! There is no greater pain than to see your child suffer.

[Sonia] There are some clear indicators when you've lost your audience, and I call it the coughing moments, when you could just hear across the house…

[coughs] Now they don't know they're doing it, but that's when you know you've lost your audience when you get your-- Your sort of chorus of coughs.

Came all the way from the park…

[viewer coughs]

[G] Just waiting for bows.

[G]

[inhales] It's gone 11, we believe.

[clock ticking]

[Kate] Uh, so…

[woman] Don't worry. So you say, "I'm scared." You say, "Don't worry. It's gonna be okay."

[man] What was the cue again, sorry? "Who"? What's it just before that?

[woman] But the previous line is, "One of you're coming back for me. Who."

[indistinct chatter] Sorry, G. Not this one.

[indistinct chatter continues] Wait a second. Pause. Spy cam.

[G] This is the hardest day I've done in this building.

Okay. Mmhm.

[G] Since beginning, I would say.

[G] It's a ******* weird vibe.

It is weird.

[G] I wasn't here Monday, Tuesday. Oh, okay.

[G] And the people who were here were like… [murmurs] So now you've walked in, and it's all kind of slightly unsettled.

[G] A little unsettled. I haven't quite… Everyone I've pointed the camera at, I felt like I shouldn't be doing it. Yeah.

[G] And there's a very clear vibe of "please **** off." Yeah, there's been a lot of changes.

[pensive music playing]

[Jordan] Everybody's very much like, "Oh my God, can I remember this?" Entrances have changed. Quick change times have changed. Scene change times have all changed. Lines changed. Whole scene concepts gone. Brand-new ones built in two days. Changes that went in yesterday, even right up until the evening, are going in the show tonight. Ella has currently had entire new scenes written, entire new concepts given to her. And she's had a very limited amount of time to learn them. No, no, no! The battle that's going on, I can help you fight it!

[Ella] Everything is constantly changing. Um, it's just a lot to wrap your head around sometimes and just feeling all the pressure. I'm not weak!

[indistinct chatter]

[Justin] Quiet please. We're running a sequence on stage. "I like your lipstick. I like your lipstick." I mean, of all the weird, dumb things you could possibly say, Henry.

[Stephen]

[faint indistinct chatter]

[laughs]

[Louis]

[Stephen]

[Justin]

[Justin]

I was not delivering.

But… I didn't mind at all.

[Louis] Yeah.

[clock ticking]

[dramatic music playing]

[indistinct chatter] Spiders?! What-- What are you doing?

[Louis] You couldn't even scream…

[shrieks]

[Sonia]

[Justin] You sat at the back.

[Sonia]

[dramatic whooshing]

[man] So we haven't had much feedback regarding to what's expected. It's-- It's just time, isn't it?

[dramatic music continues]

[Sonia] Can I make a plea? These tornadoes, or whatever we're calling it, top of Act Two, is really not working.

[Stephen]

[dramatic music continues] What's getting cut? Some hospital stuff. Some, uh, house is now open stuff.

[loud clattering]

[machine whirring] I lost you! The battleground has just been completely changed. I think it's longer now. And it's gonna change again.

[dramatic music continues]

[Sonia] Stephen and Justin see it live in front of an audience of critics.

[Justin] Yeah. Sounds like it. That sounds absolutely terrifying.

[distorted roar]

[Stephen] Jimmy, we're really worried about the spiders not working.

[Jimmy] Yeah, I know. I, um-- Uh-- Who would be on that?

[indistinct chatter]

Let me look at it.

[G]

[Chris]

[Gary]

[Chris] Oh. Okay.

[indistinct chatter]

[Chris] Sometimes effects don't work. You know, we've-- For various reasons, there are lots of moments, you know, throughout the show that we've had to say goodbye to. Um, which in some cases, is really hard because we've worked on them for months and months and months. Yeah, you know, you have to be kind of merciless, uh, in order to tell the story in the best way that you can.

[clock ticking]

[Sonia] Today, the show is locked. No more changes can go in now. Usually you'd freeze a bit earlier, have a few days to settle in, but I think, uh, given this process, yeah, we've taken it right to the…

Yeah. To the wire.

Right to the wire. Gary has just reminded me that he's been in this theater now since August, and that's why he's looking so happy. I'm very pleased that we're freezing the show.

[Ella] Henry, listen to my voice. I'm right here.

[Justin] On the "Henry, the only thing holding you back, she's right here." The new show's a bloody-- It's a bullet. You know? You get to Act Two, and it just goes… [whoosh] …and it used to be like… [vroom]

[dramatic music playing]

[screams]

[bones cracking]

[dramatic rumble]

[Chris] We're stopping.

We're stopping?

[man] We're stopping.

[woman] Sorry.

[G] How was that show? It was fine. [laughs] It was, mm, an interesting one. The main issue is our breakable Virginia dummy who likes to break too early for reasons that we don't know why. The dummy needs to do what Virginia does in the TV show. And that's fly up in the air and then all of her bones break.

[Virginia screams]

[bones cracking] But currently, she likes to break in her chair.

[bones cracking] What do we do? Just to say it. In the scenario that we can't find it-- See what we can do.

[laughing]

[Chris] For you, yeah.

[Sonia]

[whirring]

[clock ticking]

[soft music playing]

[G] Morning, mate.

[man] Morning.

[G] I don't suppose you'd like to say "the calm before the storm," would you?

[man] I can say that.

[G] I'm right here. Well, calm before the storm.

[soft music continues]

[woman] What in the hell? Just when I started changing.

[G] There's quite a lot of flowers here, isn't there? Yes. Tons of flowers. Some with no names on either. Very helpful. That's why I'm in two hours early.

[chuckles] Chris. Hi.

[G] Hello.

[Ella] Hello.

[G] I'll follow you for a very brief moment if that's okay. Okay. With all my bags.

[machine whirring]

[indistinct chatter] Oh my God. The joys of live theater.

[Kate] We're pretty tired. I was sleeping in the dress circle between the rows the other day, and like, one of the guys who vacuums the floor, like, came up and, like, poked me and, like, woke me up, and he was like, "Are you okay?" And I was like, "It's fine. I work here." And he was like, "Yeah, but, like, are you okay?" And I was like, "Oh, pass." [laughs] "Just vacuum around me."

[clock ticking]

[epic music playing]

[Christopher] We've gotta get tickets. God, there's so much to do, G. I legitimately don't know if I have enough time to get everything done.

[Rebecca] Hey, darling. Thank you so much. Hiya, darling.

[Christopher] Oh God.

'Sup?

[Christopher] We're just kinda… Just running around. There's a lot to do.

[Patrick laughing]

[G] Hello, Louis.

Hey, mate.

Hello.

Hello.

[epic music continues]

[G] I've tried to kind of, uh, keep myself away from that. I have heard whispers of some people. Uh, but I try and just treat every audience the same and try not to think too much about who's in because it just stresses you out.

[G] Who is this?

[indistinct chatter]

[G] That's a beautiful suit, Gary.

[epic music continues] **** off, G.

[all laughing]

[tense music playing]

[clock ticking]

[music stops]

[indistinct chatter] The show last night was ******* tight. And you must have felt that it was a tight show. And keep that tonight, um, and throughout the weekend. Don't forget, there's more press coming in, I'm afraid, tomorrow.

And the day after.

[chuckling] Um, so keep your wits about you. Tonight is our night. For some of us, we've been here for months and even years. All the hard work. All the changes. It's been worth it. It's an extraordinary piece, and I could not be prouder. And if anyone's feeling nervous, don't worry about it because I'm feeling sick. So I'll-- I'll take it all on for you. And you just have a fantastic night. And when the reviews talk about the disastrous direction by Stephen and Justin, it doesn't mean you can do what you want.

[laughter]

[woman] ♪ Hey ♪

[all] ♪ Hey ♪

[woman] ♪ I don't know How you've been feeling ♪

[all] ♪ I don't know How you've been feeling ♪

[woman] ♪ I've been feeling upside down ♪

[all] ♪ I've been feeling upside down ♪

[woman] ♪ I don't know How you've been feeling ♪

[all] ♪ I don't know How you've been feeling ♪

[woman] ♪ I've been feeling upside down ♪

[all] ♪ I've been feeling upside down ♪

[woman] ♪ The Upside Down ♪

[all] ♪ The Upside Down ♪

[woman] ♪ The Upside Down ♪

[all] ♪ The Upside Down ♪

[woman] ♪ The Upside Down ♪

[all] ♪ The Upside Down ♪ We are very excited. Um, I mean, we saw a preview. I guess it was about a month ago. Um, and they've been working on it for an extra month, so we're really excited to see how it is now. Look at that. No, no, no. Look at that. Like a ******* surgeon.

[laughing] It's the big night. We're very excited.

[announcer] The show is about to begin.

[Sonia] It's a whole new generation of critics are coming through, and, you know, everything's clickbait. You either love or hate, one star or five stars. You can't be in between. If we don't get great reviews, what happens?

[dramatic music playing]

[music fades]

[clock ticking]

[Stephen] The moment before the curtain goes up is the most exciting moment one could ever have in your life.

[clock continues ticking]

[Stephen] It's so precarious. It's so dangerous.

[Stephen] It's so terrifying.

[G] Break a leg, poppet. Thank you.

[dramatic music playing]

[music builds, stops]

[audience applauding]

[cheering]

[man] The following file is classified under executive…

[distorted whirring]

[whirring stops]

[dramatic whoosh]

[shrieks]

[dramatic music playing]

[loud rumbling] That is sick, man!

[Isabella] We go up soon.

[cheering in the distance]

[indistinct chatter] Whoo! Listen to the crowd going wild!

[cheering continues]

[dramatic music continues]

[indistinct chatter] G, I'm just givin' you a heads-up. This gets really crowded, this bit, so… Sorry.

[indistinct chatter continues]

Whoops, sorry!

Don't worry. They're very friendly. Yeah, but they're critics, love.

[laughs] Oh my God! Dad!

Jesus! His eyes!

Oh my God!

[indistinct chatter] Does anyone know where… Not here? No? Oh shit. It's in my room!

[dramatic music continues]

[indistinct chatter]

[Isabella] No, it's in my room.

[Patrick] What was it like? What did you see there, Henry? What did it feel like? That's it. Show me. Keep going.

[loud screech] Keep going! You are so close!

[dramatic music continues]

[Lauren screams]

[bones cracking]

[dramatic rumble]

[ethereal music playing]

[Sonia] When you've got a thousand people… and you can hear a pin drop… that's the best sound of all. Because that's when you know you've absolutely got them. And I told you! I told you I'm not normal.

[Ella] Then what are you?

Oh my God!

[groans]

[dramatic rumbling]

[Patrick] Oh my God! It's here, isn't it?

[loud screech] It's happening! It's happening right now.

[ethereal music continues]

[snarling]

[Patrick] The only thing standing in your way. She's right here! Take her! Take her!

[growls]

[Ella] Henry! Don't! Don't listen to what he says! You don't have to do what he says!

[loud screech]

[Stranger Things theme music playing]

[applause] Come here! You ******* champ!

[applause continues]

[indistinct chatter]

[applause continues]

[applause continues]

[applause fades]

[indistinct chatter] As usual. As usual. So much fun. So good. There you go, bro.

So good.

Really good.

It's yours now.

[exhales] We ******* did it. You ******* did it. Let's go.

["This Will Be Our Year" by Dear Nora playing] Well done, Isaac. Well done, everybody! Well done, angels. ♪ The warmth of your love Is like the warmth of the sun ♪

[Stephen] Right. ♪ And this will be our year… ♪

[Kate]

[man] All right, go down. Just go down.

[indistinct chatter]

[laughs]

[Shawn] Yeah. The production, the visuals, the special effects is absolutely phenomenal. Something I've never seen before. It's like taking it to the next level. I feel like we just stepped out of a completely different world and went on a roller coaster. We're still buzzing. It was ****-- It was-- Sorry. We're still buzzing. It was crazy. It was, um… Electric. It was electric. Virginia Creel breaking, that hasn't been working, and so the fact it worked perfectly and the audience's response to it. It got applause. That was probably the happiest I was the whole play. Just to see her arms break flawlessly. Ross and I love seeing limbs snap.

What can I say?

Obviously.

[G]

[laughs] Man. Like, that audience was a riot, man. A riot. And good. Yeah. Right place. Where I'm meant to be. Lucky boy. The most glorious bunch of flowers. Oh my God.

[gasps] Oh my God. Oh my God. ♪ This will be our year Took a long time to come ♪

[sniffles] My God! It's from Winona Ryder! [laughs] That's so sweet. Oh my God. So ******* cool to meet you. That's very flattering.

This for me?

I have something for you.

[Matthew]

I do. Yeah.

[all laughing]

I know. I do. Hi.

Congratulations. Thanks very much. It's amazing to meet you.

[Louis] Gonna take a selfie.

Hey.

Congratulations, you guys. Yeah.

[Isabella] Thank you.

[man] It makes so much sense. It makes so much sense. It went really, really well. We couldn't have asked for a better response from the audience. And just, it's electric, the energy right now, and it was on stage. And it's just… Doesn't feel real. ♪ This will be our year Took a long time to come ♪ I don't think we have to be here anymore. Let's go.

[man] Let's go. Let's go downstairs. Some of the reviews are in. Five stars in The Telegraph. "West End event of the year." You can't get more than five, and they rarely give five. And then, five stars, The Guardian. "Breathtaking theater." And I know the Daily Mail's gonna be great, and The Independent's great. We'll do really well.

[G] Bloody amazing. Congratulations.

Long run. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Sonia's a genius.

[Sonia] Yeah.

[ethereal music playing]

[announcer 1] The Olivier Award goes to…

[announcer 2] Stranger Things.

[applause] I just want to thank the theater community for welcoming the Stranger Things mythology in. I want to thank the Duffer Brothers for taking a chance on a freak like me.

[upbeat music playing]

[Kate] I want to thank the fans for being freaks and connecting with us. And my husband and my mother-in-law and my parents, I want to thank you. Thank you so much.

[applause]

[reporter 1] A Stranger Things prequel is headed to Broadway.

[reporter 2] Broadway's taking a trip to the Upside Down with a new…

[reporter 3] Stranger Things: The First Shadow will make its Broadway debut next year.

[Kate] Ooh, I'm excited. Ooh, I'm nervous, but I'm excited. It's gonna be wild.

[epic music playing]

[music builds]

[music continues]

[intense music playing]

[calm music playing]

[dramatic music playing]

[music fades]