Susan Granger’s review of “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” (Marriott Marquis Theater on Broadway)
IF you love Netflix’s sci-fi drama “Stranger Things” …IF you’re familiar with the characters & curious about their backgrounds…and/or IF you’re determined to support Westport actor, Jamie Martin Mann – then skip the rest of this review.
Because despite its being named the Best new play on London’s West End, I think it’s the Worst new play of this Broadway season. Quoting from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” – “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury – signifying nothing.”
After coughing from the billows of smoke that periodically engulf the audience and an auditory adjustment from the assault of loud, cacophonous special effects, along with far too many jump scares, let me explain.
A high-tech visual spectacle from supernatural start to finish, “First Shadow” is both a chaotic prequel and a muddled, villain-origin explanation that’s filled with disparate, disjointed scene snippets aimed at those with the attention span of a flea.
Set in the fictional town Hawkins, Indiana, in 1959 – 24 years before the TV show – we’re introduced to Henry Creel (Louis McCartney), a radio-toting, troubled teenager with telepathic powers whose past is coming back to haunt him, just like his father Victor (T.R. Knight) who suffers from PTSD.
Attempting to solve a series of gruesome crimes, Henry’s cohorts include spirited Joyce (Alison Jaye), determined to stage ‘a play within a play’; Patty (Gabrielle Nevaeh), the orphaned girl he likes; Jim (Burke Swanson), the rebellious son of the police chief; Bob (Juan Carlos), the tech nerd who adores Joyce. Plus there’s an ominous scientist, Dr. Martin Brenner (Alex Breaux), studying Henry.
According to the mythology, eventually Henry Creel will become demonic Veena, the show’s antagonist in a sinister alternate universe known as the Upside Down.
Based on an original story by Matt & Ross Duffer – a.k.a. the Duffer Brothers – Jack Thorne & Kate Trefry, the stilted, incongruous script, written by Kate Trefry, is directed by Stephen Daldry and co-directed by Justin Martin. Credit special effects and illusions by Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher with video design by 59.
Running two hours, 45 minutes with an intermission geared to merchandise sales, including bizarre plush Demogorgons, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” is at the Marriott Marquis Theatre.
While orchestra seats are predictably pricey, same-day $40 rush tickets are available at the box-office on a first-come, first-served basis, up to two per person and there’s an on-line lottery for $45 tickets at broadway.strangerthingsonstage.com.