Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Warning: I do not give Spoiler warnings - you have been warned.

I left this theatre with a very sour taste in my mouth. I kept waiting for the protagonist to redeem himself and the story to somehow wrap up - I don't need every show to have a happy ending, but this felt like it was aimed at kids and I figured there was bound to be some form of redemption after the protagonist murders their whole family and half the town. But no, the only hint of redemption we get is that Henry becomes some kind of creepy alien uncle to the other test subjects hidden away in their experimental lab. And then a cheap jumpscare and the show is over. And if that wasn't enough to create that sour taste, then they immediately launched into "And now, a sneak peek at the final season of Stranger Things on Netflix!"

I get that this isn't traditional theatre, and I do think it's cool that it's trying to bring in a new audience to the Broadway scene, but I (personally at least) enjoy theatre because it is different from TV and cinema, because it offers experiences that you can't capture through a screen alone. So it felt like a bit of a bastardization when, following a conclusion that I didn't enjoy and felt was poorly done, I now have to sit through 3 minutes of Netflix advertising their television show to me. It really just made it feel like the entire 3 hour show and the purpose for creating this show in the first place was to advertise their Netflix show. In engineering, I would say this is akin to "designing a solution before you've identified a problem" - in other words, it feels like the existence of this show was born out of an opportunity to make money and slap the Stranger Things and Netflix brands on another thing, rather than this show being necessary to the series or even being a standalone experience at all!

Other than the last 10 minutes pissing me off, I found the story quite muddy and unclear at best - confusing and poorly written at worst. One of the main themes seemed to flip flop between "don't let the darkness in" and "let go and let it all in", and it was never clear to me what was being referred to here nor which was "good" or which was "bad". There were several distinct "monsters" or portayals of the same "monster" throughout the show, and they didn't seem to fit together or make much sense within the story.

The special effects and stage elements are impressive, but I did find them painfully overused and recycled. Throughout the nearly-3-hour show, the amount of times that Henry uses the "demon voice" makes the character feel unoriginal and incoherent. Things popping / exploding / catching fire / snapping is also cool, but quickly got old, especially since it felt like the "punchlines" of many scenes was the "explosion" or special effect that happens at the end - to me, this made it feel like the same "punchline" kept getting used over and over again, leading it to feel more like a series of "cheap thrills" than an "onstage spectacle". When the shadow finally enters the world (I guess?), that is a cool special effect, but I was so confused by the story at that point that I didn't really understand exactly what was "coming out" or what the consequences of this actually were? Probably looked cool from the orchestra - I was in the front center mezzanine, which I think was a great place to be for this show.

All the poo-pooing aside, there were some cool theatrical elements and genuine moments. The opening scene, with the different "windows", as well as the actors in the audience, was quite cool. I believe the end of this scene went straight into the Stranger Things theme song, which did give me chills - but then again, it reminded me that this show did not, to my knowledge, have a live orchestra, which contributed even more to the feeling that this was "cheap" or "not real" theatre.

Most of Henry's interactions with his family were a bit cringy in my opinion, but there was one moment that did actually bring a tear to my eye - when his mom is talking about how he "isn't normal" and says something along the lines of "so what if you're not normal? Why does it have to be a bad thing? I think it's a miracle. You are a miracle." This was a powerful moment that I thought was going to indirectly be revisited towards the end of the show, when I thought the character would "learn the err of their ways" and somehow redeem themselves, but alas, I'm left with just a couple of good nuggets from this show and primarily a bitter taste in my mouth.

Most people around me seemed to LOVE the show and think it was AMAZING - part of me appreciated that this may be many people's first time on Broadway and the joy they are experiencing is moreso directed at Broadway than at this particluar show, to which I selfishly think "you think this is good? Just wait till you see some REAL theatre!", and the other part of me truly does not understand the appeal of this show or how having a TV preview shoved into your faces could elicit such strong emotions. Either way, don't let my negative words influence your decision to see the show for yourself - it was still worth a night out in Manhattan and a trip to the theatre.

As Matthew Hardy mentions in his review, I would be very disappointed if there are more and more of this kind of show popping up to the point of "taking over Broadway" and replacing more of the classics and musicals.