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15th April 2025
01:01pm BST

As we collectively wait for the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, Netflix has just released a documentary film about its acclaimed stage prequel, Stranger Things: The First Shadow.
Titled Behind the Curtain: Stranger Things The First Shadow, the docufilm offers unique behind-the-scenes access to the production, which is set in 1959 and tells "a story of Henry Creel and Hawkins".
The play also features younger versions of several other Stranger Things characters, including Jim Hopper, Joyce Byers, Dr. Brenner and Bob Newby.
One talking head in the trailer for the documentary describes the stage prequel as "the origin of Stranger Things, the origin of the Upside Down".
Based on a story from Stranger Things creators The Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things writer Kate Trefry and Adolescence co-creator Jack Thorne and co-directed by Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot), The First Shadow was a hit with both audiences and critics on the West End.
Later this month, meanwhile, the play will have its official opening date on Broadway.
So, if you are a Stranger Things fan curious to get a glimpse of the production - which reviewers have said boasts 'dazzling, eye-popping staging' - you may want to check out Behind the Curtain.
The synopsis for the doc from Netflix reads: "Follow the cast and crew of Stranger Things: The First Shadow as they race against time to prepare the ambitious, boundary-pushing stage show for its West End debut amid mounting fan and critic anticipation."
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