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Play wins Tony Awards for scenic, lighting, sound design

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The play builds on Duff brothers' sci-fi TV series

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Netflix ( NFLX ) series has spawned video games, merchandise

By Danielle Broadway

NEW YORK, June 8 (Reuters) - With bloody body

contortions, booming blasts and brooding high school angst,

"Stranger Things: The First Shadow," based on the 12-time

Emmy-winning Netflix ( NFLX ) science fiction series "Stranger Things,"

took home Tony Awards on Sunday for best scenic design, lighting

design and sound design of a play along with a special award for

its illusions and technical effects.

Miriam Buether, the scenic designer for "Stranger Things:

The First Shadow" reflected on the journey of creating

frightening moments on stage.

"We love scaring people," she said backstage at the ceremony

hosted by "Wicked" film star Cynthia Erivo.

The play, directed by Stephen Daldry, was nominated for five

Tony Awards in total, including best performance by an actor in

a leading role in a play for Louis McCartney for his performance

as Henry Creel, the younger version of the main antagonist of

the "Stranger Things" series who is later called Vecna.

"Stranger Things: First Shadow" is one of the expansions of

the "Stranger Things" universe created by brothers Matt and Ross

Duffer, who announced the launch of Upside Down Pictures in

2022, marking an overall deal with Netflix ( NFLX ) that will also

include a live-action Stranger Things spin-off series.

The series has spawned video games, cosplay, in-person

immersive experiences and merchandise licensing deals, including

the January 2025 deal with the company behind the popular

Squishmallow plush toys.

Last month, at Netflix's ( NFLX ) globally livestreamed fan event

called "Tudum Live," it was announced that the "Stranger Things"

TV series would have a fifth and final season split into three

parts, with part one on November 26, 2025, part two on December

25, 2025 and the series finale on December 31, 2025.

The final season of "Stranger Things" was delayed by dual

Hollywood strikes in 2023.

"Stranger Things," the story of a group of adolescent

friends in rural Indiana in the 1980s who battle creatures from

an alternate dimension called the "Upside Down," premiered on

Netflix ( NFLX ) in 2016 and became a smash hit created by the Duffer

brothers for the streaming platform.

The play, produced by the Duffer brothers, takes audiences

back in time to 1959, two decades before the period explored in

the TV show.

Jim Hopper and Joyce Maldonado - adult characters in the TV

show - are seen as high school classmates with normal teen

concerns about cars and classes until a new student named Henry

arrives.

Henry Creel is an odd and troubled boy that holds the future

of the small town of Hawkins, Indiana in his hands.

The New York cast includes "Harlem" actor Burke Swanson as

Jim Hopper, "Shameless" actor Alison Jaye as Joyce Maldonado and

McCartney as Henry Creel, who reprised his role after being in

the London production.

The monster-filled play debuted in London in 2023 at the

Phoenix Theatre and made its New York Broadway debut in March

2025 at the Marquis Theatre.