Stranger Things wins 4 Tony Awards

Tony Award-winning play Stranger Things poster

 

Stranger Things wins 4 Tony Awards

The Stranger Things series continues to cement its presence as one of the most prominent contemporary cultural phenomena, with its stage adaptation, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, winning four awards at the latest Tony Awards, the most prestigious in the United States, held at a ceremony held Sunday evening in New York City.

The show, which has been performing at the Marquis Theatre on Broadway since March 2025, won awards for Best Scenic Design, Best Lighting Design, and Best Sound Design for a Play, in addition to a special award for Visual Effects and Technical Tricks, reflecting the growing focus on integrating digital technologies with live theater to redefine audience experience.

“We love to scare people, but we also love to wow them,” said Miriam Buther, winner of the Best Scenic Design award, backstage, referring to the suspenseful nature of the show’s visual elements, inspired by the science fiction world that made the Netflix series so popular.

The show is directed by Stephen Daldry, who has previously been nominated for Oscars for films such as The Hours and The Reader, and has been nominated for five Tony Awards in total, including Best Leading Actor in a Play, a category in which Lewis McCartney was nominated for his portrayal of Henry Creel, the young version of Vecna, the main antagonist of the television series.

The success of the stage show reflects a growing trend in the entertainment industry toward capitalizing on successful television and film properties in live formats, combining mass appeal with visual experimentation. This comes at a time when Broadway theaters are seeking to attract new audiences after years of declining attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The show premiered in London at the Phoenix Theatre in 2023 before moving to New York, supported by a large-scale production and collaboration between Netflix, Fremantle, and Sonia Friedman Productions, reflecting the commercial stakes behind the project.

Set before the events of the established series, Stranger Things: The First Shadow explores the early transformation of Creel from a gifted child to a malevolent incarnation, serving as a dramatic origin story for a franchise that has maintained its global popularity since its premiere in 2016.