The new cast of 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' discuss making their West End debuts

The final TV series of Stranger Things will air in 2025, but the stage show is just getting started, with a Broadway transfer on the horizon and a new cast established in the London production as it turns one.

Stranger Things: The First Shadow took the West End by storm just over a year ago, when the Duffer Brothers (original creators of the Stranger Things TV show), Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child writer), and Kate Trefry (Stranger Things writer) collaborated to develop a prequel to the hit Netflix series about mysterious and unexplained happenings in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana.

The mighty play has just welcomed its new cast, with Jessica Rhodes, George Smale, and Callum Maxwell taking over the roles of Joyce Maldonado, James Hopper Jr., and Bob Newby, respectively. London Theatre Magazine spoke to the new trio about stepping into the shoes of such a big show and how it feels to be making their West End debuts.

Were you all fans of the original Netflix TV series?

Callum Maxwell: I was a major fan. I also love fantasy, always have. But when you’re watching something, you don’t think, “They’re going to make that into a play and you’re going to be in it.” When I was cast, I was like, “It’s really funny that I’m in the same world as [the TV show] now.”

Jessica Rhodes: I remember when it came out and it had such a big impact on Netflix. It birthed so many careers, particularly the young actors. I feel like the play does the same thing. I really enjoy that it is bringing about new talent. I hadn’t seen the latest series when I was cast and then I binged season four.

George Smale: We’re all trying to get our parents to watch it. The great thing about the play is that you don’t have to have watched Stranger Things to get this show. It stands alone. I confess that I hadn’t seen a lot of it, but since auditioning and getting in, I’m a superfan. It’s been a blessing to have such a wealth of research.

Who do you play in The First Shadow?

Rhodes: I play Joyce and she’s in her last year of school. She has bigger dreams than what Hawkins has to offer and she’s got a spirit of adventure. She’s putting on a play in the school show, and she’s picked a pretty niche one, which is just off Broadway at the time. She’s a deep thinker and stands for justice for others. This is the closest I’ve ever been to Winona Ryder [who plays Joyce as a grown woman in the TV series] in my career — one degree of separation!

Smale: It’s the closest I’ve been to her too!

Rhodes: It’s been really fun watching her and trying to learn how she speaks and bringing in little flavours of her, but also imagining who she was when she was young. Asking, what kind of spunk did she have in her?

Smale: My character echoes quite a lot of that. I play Jim Hopper Jr, a senior in high school. He’s fixing his car and wants to get out of Hawkins — he feels oppressed by the town and certain relationships in his life. He’s on the cusp of manhood, discovering who he wants to be.

Maxwell: Bob is a radio fanatic, interested in fantastical things and comic books. He’s extremely intelligent — very book smart, less so socially, but that’s the endearing thing about him. Everything is seen through rose-tinted glasses. He puts love first.

Have your predecessors had any words of wisdom?

Smale: Pace yourself!.

Rhodes: Just to have fun, enjoy it and, with everything, tell the story.

Maxwell: For me, Chris [Buckley, originated Bob Newby in the West End] is one of the most beloved people to walk through this building every day. It’s nice to know that your predecessor was such a positive presence.

Rhodes: When we went into the dressing room, they’d left little notes.

Maxwell: I got sweets!

Smale: I got nothing, I’ll have to have words.

How does it feel to step into their shoes?

Maxwell: It’s normal to internalise, “What’s my version going to be?” But when you look at the show and realise it’s 37 different people [in the cast], you can’t replicate energy like that, we’re going to have our own thing. I think that really calmed us all down. We realised their version can’t be our version, and vice versa, which releases you from the expectation.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Rhodes: It’s the first time for all of us working with a revolve, which is fun but definitely something to get used to.

Maxwell: It’s like being on a bouncy castle when you’re six!

Rhodes: There’s one scene at the top of the play when everyone’s being introduced and we’re all revolving. You’ll get it when you stand still in the rehearsal room, and then you’re chucked on to the revolve and you’re like, “Why am I over here now?” That’s been a fun little challenge.

Smale: It's a very technical show. I thought four weeks of tech was going to be too long, but now I'm like, “Give me three more weeks!”

How does it feel to be making your West End debuts?

Rhodes: It’s been exciting and daunting. I realised when I first came on to the stage that I’d never played a cross arch before. It seems such a simple thing, but all the other stages I’ve played on have been thrust. It feels like another stage of development to just keep learning your craft. It’s fun to play in a new space. My acting tutor was in Come From Away [which was at the Phoenix Theatre until January 2023], so I’d seen her on that stage. I love being reminded it’s a community, and we’re just part of the next generation.

Maxwell: I moved here two months ago. It’s my West End debut and my London debut. I’m Irish and an insane fan of Irish theatre — it’s where my heart lies. Being immersed with people who are at the top of their game, I’m so excited to see that on a different scale over here — different, not better! But it’s the West End, it’s been around for a long time, so it’s really cool to be a part of that.

Smale: I come from a theatre background but I’ve been doing film and TV over the last few years, so it’s so lovely to be back on the stage. There’s nothing like it.

Book Stranger Things: The First Shadow tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: George Smale, Jessica Rhodes, and Callum Maxwell. (Photo by Craig Sugden)