This week on Script Apart, we’re broadcasting from the Upside Down. Yes, grab your Eggos and Metallica CDs for a special, spoiler-free conversation all about Stranger Things: The First Shadow – the first theatre production that we’ve covered on the show, as part of a new strand of episodes called "Stage Apart."
The First Shadow is a show that, as reviews have underlined, accomplishes things not thought possible in a play till now; as a spectacle, it's breathtaking in the way it conjures all manner of demogorgon-related chaos, live in front of you. But also staggering is what the show achieves as a piece of storytelling. Which is why this week, we’re delighted to be joined by the wonderful Kate Trefry – writer of a great many of the show’s best episodes, and writer of The First Shadow.
Working from a story created by Jack Thorne and show creators The Duffer Brothers, Kate penned The First Shadow as a prequel, pulling the curtain back on how and why the Upside Down came to Hawkins in the first place. Set in 1959, it introduces us to younger versions of fan favourite characters like Hopper, Joyce and Bob Newby, as a mystery unfolds in their sleepy hometown; beloved household pets are turning up not just dead but grotesquely disfigured. This spate of killing coincides not just with the production of a play at Hawkins High School that Joyce is directing, but also with the arrival of new kid Henry Creel – a kid that, those up to date with the latest season of Stranger Things will know, has a dark future he’s about to inherit.
Stranger Things is one of the biggest TV shows of the last decade by pretty much any metric and in the conversation you’re about to hear, we talk to Kate about why that is. We get into how the tale of Eleven, Hopper and co has become almost a new American myth – and discuss what The First Shadow does to extend and complicate that fable. Without giving anything away, we discuss how The First Shadow ties the horrors of the Upside Down to 1950s racism and America’ involvement in World War II. You’ll also hear about the supposed “real-life” incidents – including a horrifying alleged event called The Philadelphia Experiment – that intersect with what happens in Hawkins in the astounding The First Shadow. Listen out, also, for a tease at what season five has in store, as Stranger Things approaches its final ever episodes.
Script Apart is hosted by Al Horner and produced by Kamil Dymek. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, or email us on thescriptapartpodcast@gmail.com.
Support for this episode comes from ScreenCraft and WeScreenplay.
To get ad-free episodes and exclusive content, join us on Patreon.
Support the Show.
No One Will Save You With Brian Duffield
The Fall Guy with Drew Pearce
Air with Alex Convery
The Blair Witch Project with Eduardo Sánchez
Stage Apart: The Hills of California with Jez Butterworth
Civil War with Alex Garland
Script Club: Children of Men with Carmen Maria Machado (Her Body and Other Parties)
Expats with Lulu Wang
How To Have Sex with Molly Manning Walker
American Fiction with Cord Jefferson
The Holdovers with David Hemingson
All Of Us Strangers with Andrew Haigh
Maestro with Josh Singer
Beau Is Afraid with Ari Aster
Poor Things with Tony McNamara
Society Of The Snow with J.A. Bayona
Toy Story 3 with Michael Arndt
A Murder At The End Of The World with Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij
Leave The World Behind with Sam Esmail
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Sackhoff Show
Toon’d In! with Jim Cummings
Team Deakins
You Can’t Make This Up
Phase Zero