Written by Jonathan Hogue, Stranger Sings! is a parody of the hit netflix sci-fi series Stranger things. It is set in the 1980s in Hawkins, a fictitious town in Indiana. The story is centred around missing kid, Will Byers. Hawkins is a rural town apparently that has a local human experimentation facility that opens a gateway into a parallel dimension, that Will gets lost in and an escaped patient known only as Eleven suddenly appears in the town.
I hadn’t watched the series before I saw the show, so initially I thought it was a skit on the 80’s films of my childhood. After spending today binge watching the first series, I can see how they condensed it down to 100 minutes in this hilarious skit.
Verity Power plays Joyce, the highly strung chain-smoking mother of the missing boy. She does a wonderful impression of Winona Ryder who plays Joyce in the series adopting some of the characters Winona herself played in the 80’s like Veronica in Heathers. At one stage Edward Scissorhands randomly shows up.
The music is fantastic. The set by Justin Williams, the lighting and sound effects are brilliant. Have to say I enjoyed it more than the series. It probably helps to have watched the series but if you were a child of the eighties you will get the humour and pop culture references without needing to watch the show.
Stranger Sings! runs from 13 December 2023 to 6 January 2024 at Southwark Playhouse in London. To find out more about the show visit this link.
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