PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
by Levi Holloway
Directed by Felix Barrett
August Wilson Theatre
Official Website
Reviewed by David Spencer
Well, what’s to say, really, about Paranormal Activity, the new play derived from the supernatural horror franchise? An event like this really only has to tick a small, strict series of boxes to work. Which is not to say that “only” is easy; only that if those boxes are ticked, the discussion is fairly short.
So, let’s go through the list.
Does it live up to the franchise imprimatur? To the best of my ability to determine, not having seen any of the films, but having checked Wiki, and being able to recognize the authenticity of a brand promoting itself in a new venue: yes.
Can it be watched as an independent story, sans familiarity with the franchise; is it easy for an audience member to get on board? The story is independent; in keeping with expected tone and style, but off-continuity, featuring new characters in a new narrative. So, as the above would imply: yes.
Is it genuinely scary? I spoil nothing much by saying it’s a ghost story—perhaps more exactingly, a poltergeist story—which is clear at the outset. And “scary” is subjective; your mileage may vary. (Sidebar: When, as a kid, I’d go to a movie with my grandpa, if there was a sudden SHOCK that made the audience JUMP, he’d take it in quietly, and in a pause after the audible GASP, he’d say “…oh?…” That mild homage to surprise was as scared as he ever got.) So I’d modify the question: Is it suspenseful enough and are there genuine, sudden surprises that land effectively, whether you’re actually scared or not? Yes.
Is Levi Holloway’s script well-written? Well enough to carry the suspense toward a genuinely satisfying catharsis. Yes.
Are the special effects well done? The whole design team is to be commended. All design departments have successfully collaborated to make a modern suburban home into a house as haunted as a turreted castle in Transylvania. Well, near enough. They did so under the guidance of renowned UK magician Chris Miller, who now designs SFX for live theatre. Additionally, he trained the actors to execute the physical illusions themselves, so the human surprises are basically live stage magic in a storytelling context. So: yes.
With Felix Barrett at the helm, is it well directed? As all the above would suggest, it would have to be. Yes.
Finally: Is it well acted? If the evidence of what I saw in Paranormal Activity is representative–and we’ve sortakinda established that it is—its stock in trade is verisimilitude. A false note would ruin any illusion by drawing attention to artifice. The actors of the surprisingly small cast—Cher Alvarez, Travis A. Knight, Shannon Cochran, Eva Kaminsky, Bobby J. Howlett—pull off the feeling of this is real handily. Yes.
Should you attend? Again, your mileage may vary. You now know exactly what kind of enterprise it is, and that’s enough to tell you whether it’ll be of interest. I’ll add for the squeamish that it never traffics in gore or atrocity-type violence. The majority of the suspense here, even the paranormal activity of the title, is in the realm of the psychological. More exactingly, its psychological effect on you. You’re not there for deep themes or great American drama. You’re there for the genre ride through the spooky fun house.
Boxes ticked. And further, deponent sayeth not.