‘Paranormal Activity’: True terror comes to stage

By Rich Fahey

BOSTON – News flash. People love to be scared. And, when you scare an audience half to death, the screams – go figure — are often followed by nervous laughter.

And so it is with “Paranormal Activity,” now at the Emerson Colonial Theatre through July 30 on the way to Broadway. It is a perfect marriage of story, stagecraft and superb, next generation production values, under the direction of Felix Barrett.  

Barrett, along with the American Repertory Theatre and the English theater group Punchdrunk brought the long-running immersive show “Sleep No More” to a school in Brookline in 2009 before transferring to New York.

The terrors that Barrett could only suggest then in 44 rooms of the Lincoln School in that show are now front and center on the menu in “Paranormal Activity.”

The show is often scary and funny at the same time. There are oohs, ahhs, screams and, almost always, nervous laughter following the sudden shocks while the audience – on its edge – waits for the next shoe to drop. Will it be a TV screen suddenly springing to life? A shadow slipping behind a piece of furniture?

The show is a descendant of a seven-picture string of films also called “Paranormal Activity” that Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions produced. It began in 2007, with an independent movie screened at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival, and Paramount released the “found-footage” classic nation-wide in October 2009 to great success, kicking off a series of seven main films and multiple spin-offs.

This production is independent of those and is an entirely new story created for the stage by playwright Levi Holloway.

This stage version had its world premiere at Leeds Playhouse in 2024 before transferring to London’s West End in 2025. The show has wended its way to Boston after stops in Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. It is scheduled to begin previews on Broadway on Aug. 14, prior to its official opening on Aug. 25 at the August Wilson Theatre.  

The story centers around a recently-married couple named James (Travis A. Knight) and Lou (Cher Alvarez), who have relocated from Chicago to London. It is obvious they are seeking a fresh start from somebody or something but will eventually learn that “places aren’t haunted; people are.”

James’ worried mother Carolanne (Shannon Cochran) is keeping close tabs on her son from Florida and checks in on a FaceTime call. The call is innocent at first, but Carolanne starts to insist that Lou is psychotic, and the dialogue turns toxic.

When unexplained events start to multiply, a paranormal expert and radio spiritualist named Etheline Cotgrave (Eva Kaminsky) is called in to investigate. A seance goes horribly wrong, and a terrified Cotgrave –after she admits she herself is a sham — warns the couple to immediately leave the home.

The playwright has dropped some breadcrumbs in Act I for theater-goers to follow and remember, and to go any further wouldn’t be fair. Suffice it to say Holloway has crafted a twisting, turning tale and a terrifying ending.

On opening night, the Colonial seemed full of fans of the films, looking for more of the same.  The movies’ brand of terror has moved seamlessly onto the stage, buoyed by wonderful illusions designed by Chris Fisher, the wizard behind “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” the stage play that came to the Colonial last November. His illusions for this production are indeed realistic and scream-worthy, as the opening night theatergoers can attest.

But it takes more than some spectacular illusions to create this world, so cue in lighting designer Anna Watson, whose work brings dread seemingly everywhere on stage. The production begins with a deafening blast from sound designer Gareth Fry, who misses no chance to up the anxiety level, and there are vibrant, take-no-prisoners video and projections designed by Luke Halls.

Scenic designer Fly Davis, who also designed the costumes, has created a spacious two-story home, complete with kitchen and living area downstairs, and bedroom, closet and bathroom upstairs. Suffice it to say when the power suddenly goes out, there are plenty of places onstage for the cast to get into trouble.

Films have always led the way when it comes to horror – “Psycho” still causes nightmares — but there is nothing like being scared in the flesh.  By the end of the two hours, you may find the edge of your seat has been  worn thin.

The national touring production of “Paranormal Activity.” Written by Levi Holloway. Directed by Felix Barrett.  Based on the “Paranormal Activity” films. First written and directed by Oren Peli and brought to the screen by Blumhouse and Solana Films. Produced by arrangement with Paramount Pictures. At the Emerson Colonial Theatre through July 30. For tickets, emersoncolonialtheatre.com