Latest news with #StephenDaldry
The Guardian
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Theatrical hitmaker Justin Martin on Prima Facie's follow-up: ‘It wrestles with how to bring up boys'
Earlier this year, opposing theatres in Charing Cross Road displayed 'sold out' signs for their shows. Both of them – Stranger Things: The First Shadow and Kyoto – were co-directed by Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin. 'It was surreal,' says Martin. 'Someone sent me a photo and I thought: I'm keeping that. As a little Australian, I'm still surprised to make a living out of this crazy career.' The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Kyoto had a limited run but Stranger Things has been going for 18 months and has 'the noisiest audience I've ever heard', Martin reports. 'I think the stat is that 60% of [them] have never been to a play before. So they eat popcorn throughout and just respond in a really natural way. If it's boring, they leave. If they're frightened, they really scream and gasp. It's very live but, if you're used to traditional theatre, it's weird.' Martin has had a centre seat for the modern evolution of theatregoing. As a solo director, he staged Suzie Miller's Prima Facie, a horrifying monologue by a barrister who is a survivor of rape, with Jodie Comer winning Olivier and Tony awards in London and New York. Uniquely for a stage play, it also twice topped the UK cinema box office when screened by NT Live. For Martin, that felt as unlikely an achievement as having double hits in London. 'I think a lot of it was Jodie,' he reflects. 'But also the subject matter of the play: that people wanted to be part of that conversation about relationships and consent. With a new play, you never know what you've got until it meets the audience. The first preview of Prima Facie, the audience was almost all women and I'd placed Stephen Daldry in the middle of the stalls to give me notes. And, even as the final music cue played, all the women in the theatre leaped to their feet with such energy and passion. And that was pretty much repeated everywhere.' Martin and Daldry intermittently fantasise about creating templates for sellout shows that can be copied around the world by assistants who occasionally check in by Zoom with the creators on their yachts. 'Sadly,' he laughs, 'we don't seem to have achieved that. We have to be around a lot for every run.' Just back from working with Daldry to open Stranger Things on Broadway, Martin will next year direct Comer again in a UK and Ireland tour of Prima Facie. Next month, he makes a National Theatre debut with Miller's new play. Whereas the earlier work took its title from the Latin legal phrase meaning 'at first sight', Inter Alia borrows the lawyers' term for 'among other things'. And, after the barrister's monologue of Prima Facie, Inter Alia is a sort of double soliloquy, for a high court judge, Jessica Parks (Rosamund Pike), who delivers both her public and private thoughts as a family crisis tests, inter alia, her judiciousness. 'In conversation' is a favourite term of Martin's for how culture works and Inter Alia has a lot to say to Adolescence, the Netflix mega-hit, as the judge becomes involved in the case of a young man accused of an assault on a classmate. 'They're definitely related,' Martin agrees. 'Both Inter Alia and Adolescence are talking about what everyone's talking about, which is how to bring up boys with an understanding of women and consent. What interested me about Adolescence was the response: get rid of mobile phones, get rid of social media. And you think: that's one of the things but there are other issues about our complicity in the society we've created. Rosamund's character in our play is trying to bring up a feminist son. And what does that mean? Suzie's play is wrestling with how to bring up boys.' The Adolescence overlap is another example of a phenomenon that fascinates Martin: how plays are changed by the surrounding context. Kyoto by Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson – known to Martin and Daldry as 'the Joes', having previously written for them The Jungle, the 2017 immersive drama about a refugee camp at Calais – premiered in summer 2024 by the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon and transferred to London this year. 'What was amazing about that play,' says Martin, 'is that we changed it a little bit between the two productions but the world had changed a huge amount.' He means the election of Donald Trump, which made the audience even more unnerved about an American lobbyist, Don Pearlman (played by Stephen Kunken), trying to sabotage the 1997 international agreement in Japan to reduce global warming. 'If you do stuff about what's going on now, which is what I like to do, then it's exciting when the context changes the play. Because of Trump, the play's discussion of the divisiveness of America had a different focus.' Kunken was, pantomime-like, regularly booed at curtain calls. But Martin has deep experience of theatre bumping into current affairs. In 2013, when Margaret Thatcher died, he was assistant director to Daldry on two West End shows in which the contentious former prime minister was satirised: Lee Hall and Elton John's musical Billy Elliot and Peter Morgan's Westminster bio-drama The Audience. 'We thought: hang on, these shows become about something different tonight. Stephen held an audience vote at Billy Elliot about whether the song fantasising about Thatcher's death should be included. [It was.] And Peter and I went on stage before The Audience and talked to the, er, audience about whether the Thatcher scene should be included. [It was.] But, when it gets like that, it's really exciting. When Haydn Gwynne, who was playing Thatcher, came on, the audience all went deeply quiet as if: are we allowed to do this tonight? But then she did her deep curtsey to the queen and everyone laughed and it was as if there was permission to be in conversation with what had just happened. It was electric.' Martin was working as 'resident director' (day-to-day show-running) on the Australian production of Billy Elliot when he first encountered Daldry and moved up, via assistant and associate director, to co-director (on The Jungle, Kyoto and Stranger Things). Some duos who use that term sit side by side at desks during rehearsals, but not Daldry/Martin: 'We divide up the show and then come back together to look at what the other has done. Every director runs out of ideas in a rehearsal room so it's great to have someone who can pick it up and run with it.' Together and separately, a trait of their productions is pace. Without ever dropping a word, Comer in Prima Facie gave a sense of a racing brain and body. Kyoto, a hefty two-act play, felt much shorter than its running length. Martin nods: 'I love it when a play is just ahead of the audience and they're trying to catch it. With a monologue, it's someone's inner thoughts and people think so quickly so it has to go: boom, boom, boom. When I started on Prima Facie, it wasn't quite coming alive and I rang up the friend who did it in Australia and she said with monologues you have to go at a rapid pace because of the speed of thought. I think pace is everything. Although it can be a fight now because a lot of actors try to act between the lines. That's the influence of screen work where it's in the pause, it's in the look. But in theatre you have to act on the line. It's an oral medium; if you're not hearing it, there's nothing going on. Stephen and I are notorious for saying to actors: if you're doing nothing, then nothing is happening.' Martin is one of a group of Australian directors – Simon Stone, Benedict Andrews, Kip Williams – who have worked prominently in London. 'I came over chasing a partner who had moved here and I just found it was the place I wanted to work,' he says. He is pleased that Inter Alia is scheduled for NT Live. 'For someone living across the world from where my parents are, it's a way of connecting … But, more importantly, it's democratised theatre.' All his big shows have been new – including The Fear of 13 with Adrien Brody – but do producers ring up and offer The Cherry Orchard or Richard III? 'Yep.' And he says no? 'Yep. Until I find my own way into a classic the way Stephen did to An Inspector Calls, where you feel the play is turned on its head.' After Inter Alia he is planning to complete a trilogy with Miller: 'We have a third one with another Latin legal title that I can't say for the moment.' While Martin insists that collaboration must remain sub judice for now, his track record suggests audiences are unlikely to be in absentia. Inter Alia is at the National Theatre, London, 10 July-13 September, and in cinemas as part of NT Live from 4 September. Stranger Things: The First Shadow is at the Phoenix theatre, London.
Khaleej Times
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
‘Stranger Things' play wins Tony Awards, setting stage for TV series finale
With bloody body contortions, booming blasts and brooding high school angst, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, based on the 12-time Emmy-winning Netflix science fiction series Stranger Things, took home Tony Awards 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 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 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 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.
Reuters
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Reuters
‘Stranger Things' play wins Tony Awards, setting stage for TV series finale
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 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 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 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 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.
Washington Post
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Vecna on Vecna: How two actors inhabit the big bad of ‘Stranger Things'
Jamie Campbell Bower was smoking outside London's Phoenix Theatre in late 2023, during intermission of the stage play 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow,' when director Stephen Daldry spotted the English actor and made an unconventional ask: Could Bower — who was there as a uniquely invested theatergoer — step onstage during the curtain call and take a bow?
Los Angeles Times
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Netflix and ‘Stranger Things' take on Broadway. Enter at your own peril
New York — An eerie, overpowering force has taken over the Marquis Theatre, home of 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow,' which had its official Broadway opening on Tuesday. This supernatural power is from a dimension even more intimidating than the Upside Down. The occult realm of Netflix, the streaming service that ensnares viewers in a maze of maybes, has joined forces with Sonia Friedman Productions to convert a piece of prime theatrical real estate into a zone of franchise extension. Broadway denizens, beware: A portal into a fantasy universe has been established in the heart of the Theater District, unleashing a breed of supernatural creatures that makes the 'Harry Potter' lot seem mild and mainstream by comparison. Disney musicals have been accused of turning Broadway into a theme park. 'Stranger Things' hurls the art form into Dungeons & Dragons territory. The good news is that a younger demographic is making the pilgrimage to the temple of their grandparents' favorite show tunes. There were so many young faces at the Marquis, I had to remind myself that I was attending an evening press preview and not a student matinee. The production, directed by Tony-winning veteran Stephen Daldry with co-director Justin Martin, is spectacular in the way that it combines the fluidity of the screen with the dynamism of the stage. The theater proves that it can do nearly anything the cinema can do with the right design team, directorial imagination and technological know-how. Unfortunately, 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow,' written by Kate Trefry from an original story she collaborated on with the Duffer Brothers (the series' creators) and Jack Thorne, also shows that the theater can be just as careless as any hyperactive action movie when it comes to plot. While seemingly unlimited resources are lavished on visual effects, the drama is allowed to tie itself into impossible knots. (Thorne, who won a Tony for 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' and obloquy for the Broadway bomb 'King Kong,' achieves a Hegelian synthesis with this potential blockbuster of dubious artistic purpose.) The problem with 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' is that it's as if an entire new season of the series had been squeezed into a 2-hour, 45-minute stage play — roughly the length of three episodes. This is binge viewing on an expedited, don't-worry-about-the-math timeline. I barely made it through two seasons of the Netflix series, so I'm hardly an expert on 'Stranger Things.' But I did notice that the Duffer Brothers didn't worry all that much about leaving storytelling holes even when they had eight episodes to lay out their vision. Here, the gaps in narrative logic are so vast that it would take the most committed fans to fill in all the missing pieces from the realm of online mythology the series has accrued since its premiere in 2016. The main character of 'The First Shadow' is Henry Creel, an adolescent dweeb who looks like Pee-wee Herman but has a malevolent side that could give Carrie a run for her prom night money. Devoted fans will know Henry from Season 4 of the series, but anyone with an ounce of sense will pick up on his sociopath tendencies from the way he buttons the top button of his shirt and stares numbly into the middle distance. The play is a prequel to the series, set in the same town but taking place in 1959, a generation before the 1980s hairstyles and New Wave mix tapes that made Season 1 such a Gen X trip. We meet Joyce Maldonado (Alison Jaye) and James Hopper Jr. (Burke Swanson) when they're in high school, having clocked in Netflix hours with them already as adults played by Winona Ryder and David Harbour. Louis McCartney (who also starred in the Olivier Award-winning West End production) plays Henry, a forlorn misfit whose only real friend is the radio he clutches like a transistor security blanket. Wiry and dangerous, the character is also strangely endearing. McCartney's shattered portrayal, blurring the line between victim and violator, elicits our sympathy without ever asking for it. Henry's parents are hoping for a fresh start after moving the family to Hawkins after some trouble in Nevada. Henry, who has psychokinetic powers and an unpredictable temper, apparently blinded a neighbor kid in a fit of pique, forcing the Creels to skedaddle to Indiana. They want to insulate their son, but it's the community that really needs protection. At Hawkins High, the other students sense Henry's oddity the way sharks scent blood in the water. One of the rich ironies of 'Stranger Things' is the way the cruelty of ordinary teenagers is made to seem as depraved as anything in the Upside Down, the alternate dimension in which humans occasionally get trapped and hunted by diabolical forces. Patty Newby (Gabrielle Nevaeh), the principal's daughter who feels like an outsider at home and at school, strikes up a friendship with Henry. They wind up getting cast, under strained dramatic circumstances, in the school musical, and a romance of sensitive oddballs blossoms. While Henry tries to resist the dark forces running riot inside him, Patty obsesses about finding the mother who abandoned her, or so she's been led to believe. Through his radio, Henry can eavesdrop on people in a way that's not bound by time or space. He agrees to help Patty find her mother, but sinister things are happening in Hawkins. A rash of brutal pet murders raises fears that a sadistic maniac is on the loose. Henry's classmates start their own investigation, which inevitably brings them to Henry's front door. As the Hawkins High musical gets underway and Patty's long-lost Vegas showgirl mother zooms into paranormal view, Dr. Brenner (Alex Breaux) and his lab henchmen are vying to take control of Henry in what seems like a secret government plot but is part of an oceanic backstory that grows ever more convoluted. (The play opens with a naval ship under mysterious attack that may have something to do with the origin story of the Upside Down, but it would take a PhD in 'Stranger Things' studies to unpack.) Daldry and his crack production team move from one scenario to the other with breathtaking ease. There was a time when theater artists were encouraged to dig deeper into what made the stage unique as a form — most notably the palpable connection between actors and spectators. 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' demonstrates that theater doesn't have to hold itself back from competing with film, television and video games. A play can move not only from place to place but also from medium to medium. But just because the theater can doesn't mean that it should. All credit to Miriam Buether's incredibly agile scenic design, Jon Clark's dynamic lighting and, most especially, Paul Arditti's spine-tingling sound design and DJ Walde's ethereally commanding music for turning the Marquis into a mind-blowing funhouse. But what the production really needs is a script doctor capable of a miracle cure. As Henry's bad behavior goes from subliminal to gore-fest, the shifts from the blood-splattered lab to the Hawkins boppy musical seem beyond ludicrous. One of Henry's powers is to prey on the traumatic fears of his perceived enemies, and 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' is able to summon a theater critic's horrific vision of a Broadway age in which sense is utterly disregarded for violent sensation. Perhaps the Hawkins drama club is the creative team's hope that culture will somehow survive the tech apocalypse. The talented cast and inexhaustibly inventive design team make it hard to bet against the future of theater. But the campy Netflix branding reminders, from the series' unmistakable musical theme to the Gothic scroll of the title to the jokey 'next episode' or 'watch credits' option that flashes at the show's end, suggest that there really is an unstoppable force out there ready to make zombies of us all.
