‘Stranger Things’ Broadway Show Set to Close

The Stranger Things Broadway play (and the version playing on the West End in London) is joining the Stranger Things TV show in the great Upside Down where all pop culture objects go after they conclude.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow opened in London in late 2023 and on Broadway in early 2025. The show is a prequel to the massively popular Netflix TV series by the Duffer brothers, which wrapped up its five season run on New Year’s Even of 2025.

Now that the show is over the stage versions are coming to a close as well. Netflix announced today that London’s The First Shadow will give its final performance at the Phoenix Theatre on December 27. New York’s First Shadow at the Marquis Theatre will follow on January 3, 2027.

Netflix

The First Shadow, which tells the origin of Stranger Things baddie Vecna, was co-directed by Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin; it was written by Kate Trefry, from a story by the Trefry, Duffers, and Jack Thorne, who co-wrote what was surely one of the models Stranger Things was hoping to emulate with a stage play spinoff, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which continues to play in both New York and London.

Here were the Duffer brothers’ comment on the news that the play was coming to an end:

When the legendary Stephen Daldry first came to us with the idea of making a Stranger Things play, we were stunned — both by the fact that Stephen wanted to do this, and that he believed it could work. And boy, did it work. We remain awed by what Stephen, Kate Trefry, Justin Martin, and all the brilliant behind-the-scenes wizards were able to pull off: cinematic theater unlike anything else out there. Their incredible work drew audiences from all over — a majority of whom had never even been to a Broadway show before.

If you want to see the show, better book those tickets soon. Not that there‘s a scarcity of shows based on movies and television shows on Broadway right now; The Lost Boys just opened and Paranormal Activity debuts later in 2026.