PARANORMAL ACTIVITY On Stage!
Review By
Tom Lavagnino
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY isn’t the first film that comes to mind when considering the question “what’s the best horror movie to translate to the stage?”
But a new play version of the franchise, now running in downtown Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre, is an unqualified success; the adaptation offers up the expected slow-burn anxiety (not much happens in the opening scene, but you know something’s coming), metaphysical elements (a Psychic shows up, naturally, once the weirdness begins), and an off-the-hook, I-Can’t-Believe-What-I-Just-Saw climax.
But is it scary?
We’ll get to that.
First, the story : Lou (Cher Alverez) and James (Patrick Heusinger) are a young American couple reeling from Lou’s past supernaturally-induced anguish back in the States; seeking to distance themselves from the trauma, they’ve relocated (and set up Zoom-centric remote work) at a rambling, two-storey house in the U.K. (we see both downstairs and upstairs (complete with staircase) throughout the entirety of the play, to grandiloquent effect).
But a question immediately arises: are Lou’s psychological torments the result of past paranormal activity in her life, or are they simply a precipitate of James “not listening” to her?
The gradually-escalating-in-intensity answer, complete with fuse-box electrical disruptions, that Psychic’s prophetic visit, hell-fire alarms, and FaceTime calls with Lou’s mother Carolanne back in the USA, all combine to provide a storytelling experience not to be missed.
But is it scary?
We’re getting to that.
It is an eternal challenge, of course, to cultivate authentically pulse-pounding, frisson-inducing horror moments in cinema. But movies (in general), and the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY films (in particular) have, at their disposal, jump-scare editing, realistic depictions of violence and dismemberment, and (most crucially) close-ups of actors’ horrified expressions to work with.
The stage does not.
But what theater can substitute, and what PARANORMAL ACTIVITY : A NEW STORY LIVE ON STAGE embodies, is a magician-like ability to misdirect. The horror, here, sometimes takes the form of a gasp-inducing I-Didn’t-See-That-Coming perspective shift, the better to throw audience expectation completely out the window.
The play also uses, to a deft degree, the immobile, unchanging canvas of that two-storey house itself; the environment, by the end of Act One, becomes as familiar to us as it is to the two characters. And unlike the jumpy, ever-changing perspective of the pixel-crazy home-video optics used in the movie, this stage set lulls us into a falsely comfortable state of mind that, when disrupted (first with tiny moments, then large-scale power), causes the anxiety and horror to be that much more forceful. (It goes without saying that the superbly-choreographed sound and lighting design, throughout the play, contribute mightily to the hair-raising components of the experience.)
But is it scary?
In a word : Yes.
(In fact, there is one scare, in particular, that is worth the price of admission.)
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY : A NEW STORY LIVE ON STAGE performs at the Ahmanson Theatre through December 7, 2025.
Tom Lavagnino is a playwright, television producer and golfer (18 handicap) living in Southern California. www.tomlavagnino.com
