It Begins with the Philadelphia Experiment: A Stranger Things Broadway Review
On October 28, 1943, there was an experiment in Philadelphia, on board the USS Eldridge, when the world changed forever. And the lives of many people, including the folks from a small town of Hawkins, Indiana, will be fraught with the repercussions. Officially, the experiment never happened, according to the US Navy. But the Duffer Brothers used the decades long conspiracy theory to illustrate the origin of their famous series, Stranger Things.
According to Cecil Adams from the Straight Dope, a column in the Chicago Sun-Times, “the whole thing first came to light in the mid-1950s, when someone variously identifying himself as Carlos Allende or Carl Allen wrote several strange letters to a UFO writer named Morris Jessup. Filled with misspellings and stylistic eccentricities, the letters told of a U.S. Navy destroyer that in October 1943 had been subjected to a force field in an effort, apparently successful, to make it invisible. Somehow the ship was also teleported from the Philadelphia Navy Yard to Norfolk, Virginia, and back, all within a matter of minutes. Unfortunately, the experiment also had the side effect of rendering half the officers and crew insane, with some of the crewmen unpredictably becoming invisible or bursting into flame years later. Since this had a negative effect on morale, the Navy halted the experiments and hushed up the whole affair. Or so the letter writer claimed.” The story was further researched by William Moore with Charles Berlitz, who came out with a book called “The Philadelphia Experient” in 1979.
They found that the experiment was developed to create radar-proof ships to deter German radar-guided torpedoes, something that they were believed to be developing at the time during WWII. The idea was to feed a high-power, low-frequency current into the ship’s hull, which would cause interference. According to William Moore’s book, “the initial experiment had unintended side effects on the crew, ranging from nausea to hallucinations and loss of consciousness. The hallucinations were the basis for the wild tales that later arose.” For the story of Stranger Things, it was prime material that led to an incredible technological marvel of a stage play. I will attempt to talk about the play as spoiler-free as possible, with a note that there will be spoilers for the television show.
My siblings and I ventured down to New York City on March 29th to witness the Strange Things Broadway play, titled The First Shadow. The line was literally snaking its way around the city block, with lots of fans dressed like various characters from the show. When we were let inside to scan our tickets and make our way to our seats, I snagged a stuffed animal version of the Demogorgon, which may or may not be given to my nephew (with my sister-in-law’s permission, of course). Sitting in our seats, there was a black screen on stage with the words “Philadelphia Experiment”, which set the stage for the story to come.
It opened with a combination of intelligent stagecraft and mind-bending effects to bring us back to the 1940’s as the US Navy performs the infamous experiment. And then, as the stage darkens, a black screen shows the Stranger Things famed title sequence, to a roaring audience. The screen disappeared afterward, revealing the scene in season four of the show when the Creel family moves into a house in Hawkins, Indiana. It is revealed from the mother that they had to move quickly, indicating something terrible that happened in another residence.
Henry Creel, the infamous origin of the character One, is seen listening to conversations from this portable radio, showing a hint of his supernatural powers. The following day in the story, we are introduced to Hawkins High School, where we witness the younger versions of the adult characters on the show, from Hopper to Ted Wheeler to Joyce Byers and more. The casting and costume design was perfect, as all of them encapsulated their characters perfectly.
The show follows the in-show production of a musical, directed by Joyce née Maldonado (known as Joyce Byers after marriage later on), while Henry Creel learns to control his supernatural powers and inadvertently gets involved with Dr. Martin Brenner of the U.S. Government. Eventually, this leads to the revelations of his position at Hawkins Laboratory where he meets the character known as Eleven. It mimics the television show’s natural flow of school-aged drama with supernatural intrigue and government conspiracy.
The play itself is certainly for mature audiences, with many jump scares, horrific depictions of dead bodies, and some language. But it brilliantly takes stagecraft to next levels. If you are a Stranger Things fan, I highly recommend heading to NYC to see it, with a note to snag an aisle seat for some very cool interactions during the show. As we await the delayed final season, Stranger Things: The First Shadow Broadway show is an excellent expansion of its origin story and is incredibly well done.
