While I might spend a lot of time writing about (and watching) TV, my true passion lies in watching theatre (which I don’t review because I don’t want to turn something I love so deeply into a job – although I’m happy to offer recommendations should anyone want some). So, when I was in London recently, I took advantage of the opportunity to combine my two loves and spent an afternoon watching Stranger Things: The First Shadow, a prequel play (really, a theatrical event) that charts the origins of the series’ final Big Bad, Vecna, and provides fans a chance to glimpse several of their favorite Hawkins adults as teens. As a standalone story the play is serviceable – highlighting the things the television series excels at while also highlighting the things it continually misses – but the stagecraft within the play is a sight to behold. Oh, and while you don’t need to see the play to understand the series (or, at least to understand the four seasons currently available – I suspect at least one key element from the play will make its way on screen in some manner in season five), it does add a little extra umph to fleshing out just who Henry Creel (Louis McCartney, who definitely gets the character’s central dichotomy even if he can’t nail an American accent) was before he became a monster and just what might have been the reasons he became who he became.
I don’t want to spoil the play for those who might see it (while the show is currently only running in London, a production will be opening on Broadway this spring), but I will get a bit into what the play offers in terms of fleshing out Henry Creel’s backstory and helping to explore who this boy was before he was turned into a monster. And much of that story lies in the character of Patty Newby (Ella Karuna Williams in an emotionally resonate performance), the adopted younger sister of Bob Newby (Chris Buckley, who is channeling Sean Astin – who famously played the dearly departed Bob in the series – at such an elite level I was utterly amazed) and the potential love interest to outcast, abused, and confused Henry.
You see, while the play contains teenage versions of pretty much every parent to our central Stranger Things kids (we have Joyce, Lonnie Byers – Will and Jonathan’s estranged father, Ted Wheeler and Karen Childress – Mike’s parents, Sue Anderson and Charles Sinclair – Lucas’s parents, Lonny Munson – who is likely Eddie’s dad, and, of course, a young Jim Hopper) and they all have an impact on the life of Henry Creel (some more than others – more on that in a minute), the real story being told here is how a young teenager can be so failed by his terrified parents that he can spiral into something monstrous. Oh, and how that monstrous version of him can have some pretty nasty possessive and violent tendencies even without Dr. Brenner’s influence and aid in amplifying his abilities.
It’s safe to say that the Creel family is pretty dysfunctional. Victor Creel (Michael Jibson) is a World War II vet who dealt with some . . . let’s just call them war crimes and leave it at that . . . during his time in the war and returned home a very different man. Haunted by his past, he turns to alcohol, and, as was revealed a bit in the television series, he’s not the most present parent for Henry or little Alice. Virginia Creel (a very dark Lauren Ward), Henry’s mother, desperately wants Henry to “be normal” but that’s hard to do when you have enhanced psychic abilities and a direct connection to the eerie Upside Down. Constantly telling Henry to stop acting out and stay away from other kids (lest he repeat the situation that led to him being expelled from his last school in Las Vegas), his mother ensures that Henry didn’t have any support system to try and help him. No wonder he clung to Dr. Brenner the way he did – of course, until he didn’t (but that all happened in the TV show, so you know that part of his story).
Anyway, before he was Vecna – and before he killed his mother and sister – Henry was a loner with powers and no real understanding of how to navigate life. And while at Hawkins High, he met some folks who treated him pretty poorly, but some who had some sympathy for him – namely Joyce and Bob, both of whom saw Henry at his most human and at his most horrific.* And then there was Patty, the previously unseen younger sister to Bob, who was the one person who not only gave Henry a chance, but who was willing to support him and go to bat for him. After all, she knows a thing or two about abusive parents, seeing as her father takes every chance he can to remind her that she’s adopted and less than Bob. Sure, we know that this relationship will ultimately shatter, seeing as Henry is destined to become Vecna, but man, it was really interesting to see how Patty was his one source of comfort when he needed it. And it’s that piece of Henry’s history that I think makes The First Shadow a key part of the Stranger Things oeuvre. Do I know if Patty might factor into season five? No, but I wouldn’t be shocked if she did in some capacity. You would think her memory might spark something in Vecna that would make him more human and be the secret to stopping him. And, you know, there are people in this story who knew Henry, knew of his close relationship with Patty, and who might want to see if she’s around and might be able to help. Just a thought. Otherwise, this entire play turns into simply an exercise in fleshing out a story where we really had most of the crucial information already.
*While folks like Hopper and Joyce don’t necessarily have all the pieces of the Henry-Vecna puzzle based on their past interactions with Henry, some weird shit goes down in front of them in the play. Like, they aren’t in the Upside Down, but they certainly witness things that also happen later in the TV series. So, why aren’t they commenting on how this is shockingly familiar to what happened when they were in high school? Why are they so lost? Is this some “It” situation where the adults just forget the violence and trauma of their childhood and allow it to continue anew? And I know this play came well after the initial seasons, so they wouldn’t have known they needed to account for that knowledge, but it does create a nifty little plot hole.
While this isn’t a review, I do want to take a minute to mention that The First Shadow does have some absolutely masterful stagecraft. The opening sequence of the play even had me, a noted curmudgeon when it comes to flash over substance, wide-eyed and gasping like a kid. The rest of the play? Not nearly as impressive and the script itself is hit or miss when it comes to crafting a compelling story. After all, aside from the Patty Newby aspect, much of Henry’s story was already told in season four of Stranger Things. So, super fans will enjoy the play, average fans will have fun, and if you’ve never seen Stranger Things, you’ll be utterly lost. But, if Patty does appear in season five, I suspect the play will go from a fun piece of theatre to a must see show.
