'Stranger Things: First Shadow' stars focus on humanity amid horror

NEW YORK, July 27 (UPI) -- Burke Swanson and Alison Jaye say they focused on the humanity even more than the horror when playing teen versions of Hopper and Joyce in Broadway's blockbuster Stranger Things prequel, The First Shadow.

Penned by Kate Trefry and directed by Stephen Daldry, the supernatural stage play takes place in the 1950s, in the fictional town of Hawkins, Ind., and offers origins stories for the beloved grown-ups -- and terrifying uber-villain Vecna/Henry Creel -- from the 1980s-set Netflix TV show.

"Within the spooky, sci-fi nature of it all, there are real humans trying to figure themselves out and figure out what their community's like," Swanson told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.

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Even before Henry (Louis McCartney) arrives and unwittingly turns the town upside-down, Hopper and his classmates Bob Newby (Patrick Scott McDermott) and his adopted sister Patty (Gabrielle Nevaeh) are dealing with parent-related tension and trauma.

"What was so special to me is that it wasn't shying away from those stories," Swanson said. "It's a big thing that we're doing here. There's a lot to tell and it almost doesn't fit within one show, but there's a willingness to explore not only the father-kid relationships, but the mother-kid relationships and how each different dynamic is processed."

Alison Jaye, playing Joyce Maldonado, smiles from the red carpet of Broadway's "Stranger Things: The First Shadow" on April 22. File Photo by Angelina Katsanis/UPI

Patty's outsider status leads her into danger because the only person she feels connected to is Henry.

"Patty has really been pushed to the side, not only within the community, but also within her family," Swanson said.

David Harbour and Winona Ryder attend the premiere of "Stranger Things 3" at Santa Monica High School in 2019. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI

"Bob did not support Patty in a way that she needed and she comes into her own as this really incredible, strong female lead," he added. "He gets this really powerful moment just to acknowledge, 'I messed up and i want to do better.' And I think those moments -- even within the sort of 'Mind Flayer' of it all -- are the things that really push us forward through that story."

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As for Hopper, he is leaning into his "bad-boy mentality" when the audience first meets him, but he matures a bit throughout the play as he tries to help his friends and neighbors, Swanson noted.

"In classic Hopper fashion, he's got a really sentimental heart," Swanson added.

"What continues to be learned in this show is the power of community and the power of friendship and Hopper believes that he will be better off alone. His relationship with his father is not good. There's no communication there and I think what we see is the glimpse of the hope of who Hopper can become when he chooses community."

Just as the Netflix series is famous for tapping into the nostalgia of the 1980s, the stage production perfectly re-imagines Middle America in the 1950s.

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"It's been a blast getting to dive into the music, into the aesthetics and costumes. We really got to emphasize the color, the dynamic of that time period, visually," Swanson said.

"What's really, really fascinating about the '50s -- and this has been touched on by many different art forms -- is what happens when that facade begins to crack because the sleepy little town of Hawkins, Indiana seems to have begun to experience some very spooky things much earlier than we thought."

Hopper may be decades away from becoming the sheriff who will date single mom Joyce, but the two do know each other quite well at this point, even if they don't travel in the same social circles until they team up to solve the mystery surrounding Henry.

While Hopper is a loner, teen Joyce is a bubbly theater kid obsessed with directing the school play.

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"With this version of Joyce, there is a real questioning and push and pull of, 'Is this the life I'm going to choose? Or am I going to be able to get out of here and escape and become something bigger than this town?'" Jaye said.

The actress loves that -- even though the play has spectacular special effects -- the characters live in a low-tech era guided by their instincts and moral compasses as opposed to cell phones or computers.

"These kids don't have that. All they're leaning on is each other. If we're talking about the trio of Bob, Joyce and Jim [Hopper], we wake up every day and just knock on each other's doors and continue investigating, just like we kind of see [kid characters do] on the TV show," Jaye said.

"There's that buoyancy and that fervor, that rigor to: 'We've got to dig. We've got to solve this problem.' They put all that energy on each other, instead of on technology, and connect that way, which is, I feel like, a big difference between what we're living in now."

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Although many fans of the Netflix series have been rooting for grownup Hopper (David Harbour) and Joyce (Winona Ryder) to hook up for years, others cheered when Joyce finally seemed to have a brief but stable romance with nice-guy Bob (Sean Astin) before he was attacked by Demodogs while protecting Joyce and her sons.

Teen Bob is shy, earnest and clearly in love with Joyce.

"When I watch the series, that was immediately one of my favorite characters who, unfortunately, didn't last that long. But he provides such a grounded sense of being," Jaye said about Bob.

"They are so different, but, yet, it is the softness of Bob that softens Joyce. I feel like we do get to see that and celebrate that in the early moments of the show together."

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Jaye said she has been overwhelmed by support from fans who get a kick out of learning more about their favorite TV character by watching the play.

"People of all ages have been like: 'Oh, my gosh! Of course, Joyce is a theater kid! How did I not put that together?' There's no nod to that in the series at all, but Kate created this back story for her," Jaye explained.

"There's a nerdy tenderness and, also, a major headstrong authority to her that somehow makes it all make sense to me perfectly."

The fifth and final season of the show is to premiere on Nov. 26.