Paranormal Activity

By: Darryl Reilly

Shrieks and howls are plentiful during the absorbing supernatural psychological thriller Paranormal Activity. Playwright Levi Holloway’s familiar haunted house scenario is realized via superior stagecraft including a fabulous rambling dwelling. Murky lighting, piercing sound effects, and fantastic illusions all incite spooky thrills, genuine queasiness, and occasional levity.

Why didn’t you tell me about any of this stuff before we were married?

In the present, a young Chicago couple take up residence in a London house. Corporate James and Louise who are in their early 30s have been married for nearly a year and are escaping from troubles. She is on antidepressants having been traumatized after surviving the childhood housefire her parents perished in. His single Florida mother is a feisty Christian fundamentalist who he is happy to be far away from, FaceTime calls between them become contentious.

The apparition which was supposedly tormenting Louise in Chicago has followed her to London; after an exhilarating and creepy sequence James now has cause to truly believe her. A work Zoom call is sidetracked by otherworldly intrusiveness, and a famous female paranormal investigator is brought in. Revelations accumulate culminating in a frightening finale.

Mr. Holloway offers a twisty and somewhat plausible plot which is an original stage installment of the high-grossing Paranormal Activity (2007) movie franchise with its six sequels. Holloway’s basic dialogue is often pleasurably in the horror flick mode of giddy solemnity. The play debuted in England in 2024 and toured the United States before this Broadway premiere. Paranormal Activity is decidedly not in the annals of outstanding dramatic literature but for devotees of the chiller genre it is a grand experience.

Personable Travis A. Knight and alluring Cher Álvarez are ideal as the stalwart James and unraveling Louise. Their full-bodied characterizations and intense rapport are integral. Magnetic Eva Kaminsky is crisply authoritative as the acclaimed English ghost hunter and makes the most of her pivotal appearance. The vivacious Shannon Cochran as James’ religious mother veers from sweetness to malevolence with delicious glee.

Director Felix Barrett’s supreme physical staging mines all the possible terror from this things that go bump in the night in an old dark house yarn. There are fine pacing and momentum in addition to jolting shocks. Those are achieved by the high caliber technical elements.

Scenic designer Fly Davis’s arresting two-level multi-room edifice with its eerie nooks and crannies is dominated by the cluttered kitchen, jumbled living room, and a foreboding front door which gets a lot of creepy use. Ms. Davis’s costume design for each character is of stylish mundanity.

Anna Watson’s vigorously moody lighting design is crucial to the production’s visual elan. Sound designer Gareth Fry’s crashing realization of music and effects is often cause to jump out of one’s seat. Luke Halls’ mesmerizing and unsettling video and projections design further enhance the presentation. Illusions designer Chris Fisher’s awesome netherworldly creations complete the shuddery dimension on display.

This theatrical incarnation of Paranormal Activity faithfully, vividly, and unnervingly brings the movies’ gruesome sensibility to the stage.

Paranormal Activity (open run)
August Wilson Theatre, 245 West 52nd Street, in Manhattan
For tickets, visit www.paranormalbroadway.com
Running time: two hours including one intermission