As Gaten Matarazzo joins the 30th-anniversary revival of RENT, we look at the Netflix stars swapping the Upside Down of Stranger Things for the London stage.
There must be something in the water in Hawkins, Indiana. Over the final few seasons, the young ensemble cast of Netflix’s sci-fi megahit Stranger Things have been quietly transforming into some of the most formidable stage talent of their generation.
The latest star to make the leap is Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), who has officially been confirmed to make his highly anticipated West End debut this autumn.
Matarazzo will star as Mark Cohen in a major new 30th-anniversary revival of Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning rock musical RENT. Produced by West End powerhouses Sonia Friedman and Chris Harper, the show will play a strictly limited season at the Duke of York’s Theatre from 26 September 2026. Book RENT tickets here.
While Matarazzo is best known globally for his screen work, he is no ‘stranger’ to the stage. He recently earned rave reviews on Broadway playing Tobias Ragg in the blockbuster revival of Sweeney Todd, alongside stints in Dear Evan Hansen, Parade and more.
Sadie Sink’s London summer of Shakespeare
Matarazzo will be following in the footsteps of his Stranger Things co-star Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), who is currently taking London by storm.
Sink is making her own West End debut starring as Juliet in Robert Icke’s electrifying new production of Romeo and Juliet at the Harold Pinter Theatre. Playing alongside Noah Jupe (A Quiet Place), Sink’s performance has been hailed by critics for its raw intensity and stunning chemistry. Theatregoers hoping to catch her in London have until 20 June 2026 before the strictly limited West End season must close.
Book tickets to Romeo & Juliet at the Harold Pinter Theatre.
From Broadway to the West End
Sink’s London triumph comes hot on the heels of her run on Broadway, where she starred in Kimberly Belflower’s bitingly funny and fiercely feminist high school comedy-drama John Proctor is the Villain. Directed by Danya Taymor, Sink’s spellbinding performance earned her a prestigious Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play.
In an exciting twist for London theatre fans, John Proctor is the Villain is also officially making its way to the West End. Following a critically acclaimed, sold-out run at the Royal Court Theatre, the explosive play will transfer to Wyndham’s Theatre for a 12-week season starting 2 February 2027 – albeit without Sink. Book tickets to John Proctor is the Villain in London.
The wider Hawkins connection
The theatrical pedigree of the Stranger Things cast runs even deeper, bridging the gap between screen success, and Broadway and West End prestige.
Before finding fame on Netflix, many of the core cast began their careers on the boards. Matarazzo debuted on Broadway as Gavroche in Les Misérables, while Sink famously tackled the title role in the 2012 Broadway revival of Annie.
The wider cast list reads like a theatre directory.
David Harbour (Jim Hopper) is a Tony-nominated veteran of the stage, who starred in Mad House at London’s Ambassadors Theatre in 2022. His New York and Broadway work also includes Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Coast of Utopia, and Glengarry Glen Ross.
Other Stranger Things alumni with impressive stage credentials include Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), who began his career as Young Simba in Broadway’s The Lion King; Michael Park (Tom Holloway), who recently starred alongside Idina Menzel in Redwood on Broadway; and Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), who made her stage debut in a critically lauded Off-Broadway run of Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice.
Matthew Modine (Dr. Martin Brenner) also has an impressive stage résumé, not least the London production of To Kill a Mockingbird. That same production is coming back to London this year at the Wyndham’s Theatre, this time starring Richard Coyle.
With the fifth and final season launch of the Netflix series now a distant memory, it seems that the stars of Hawkins are increasingly looking to Theatreland for their next chapters. For London audiences, getting to watch these powerhouse screen actors command the West End’s most intimate theatres is proving to be a headline event.
Stranger Things on stage
Of course, the ultimate intersection of Hawkins and theatre is already playing right in the heart of the West End.
The Olivier Award-winning prequel play, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, is currently in its third blockbuster year at the Phoenix Theatre in London. Directed by Stephen Daldry, the jaw-dropping production explores the origin story of Henry Creel in 1959 Hawkins, long before Eleven or the kids ever entered the picture.
Duke of York's Theatre, London
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