Writer: Levi Holloway
Director: Felix Barrett
Based on the Paranormal Activity Films
Leeds Playhouse’s website simply states “We can’t say anything else” when clicking on information about the show. Ushers hold signs asking for no spoilers to be spilt after the show. This is a world premiere and the producers of Paranormal Activity: A New Haunting Live On Stage obviously want a blackout on information about the show beyond the four walls of the theatre. Fitting then for a show that embraces the literal blackout but details might be in short supply in review!
There is an appetite for ghostly horror onstage: Danny Robins’ 2:22 A Ghost Story and Stephan Mallatratt’s The Woman in Black before that have paved the way. Oren Peli’s 2007 film Paranormal Activity is the inspiration for this latest haunting. Cleverly, it is just that – the inspiration rather than a ‘staged’ version of the film shot through the shaky lens of an amateur camera. It relies on the same premise, however, that a person, rather than a place, can be haunted.
The production is in the hands of Felix Barrett, Artistic Director of Punchdrunk Theatre. Described as a visionary who has changed the face of British theatre Punchdrunk’s immersive productions have toured the world. Chicago based writer Levi Holloway has kept the main conceit of the film the same. James and Lou, a couple who have recently moved into a new house, are terrorised by something other. Holloway has transferred the American couple to a London house – James (Patrick Heusinger) drawn to the UK for his job and wife Lou (Melissa James) absconding from Chicago in a vain attempt to flee the demon that has petrified her since childhood. The characters are more rounded too. There are suggestions that Lou’s anti-depressant medication has psychotic properties and we see James, despite wishing to be a supportive husband, having flashes of disbelief for a wife who may or not be experiencing mental health problems. Their plight is not helped by James’ overbearing mother Carolanne (Pippa Winslow), who occasionally pops up on Facetime from the United States. There is also excellent support from Jackie Morrison (Etheline) – a clairvoyant come paranormal expert who visits the couple in the hope of understanding more about the terror that occupies its walls. The acting is superb across the board.
The production immediately plummets us into darkness. Holloway asks us to embrace eigengrau – a German word meaning ‘intrinsic light.’ Literally translated (grey eye) it is the dark grey colour seen by the eyes in perfect darkness as a result of signals from the optic nerves. A beautifully poetic metaphor, Holloway and Barrett are dealing with what lies in between or what our brains might see in the absence of light. The clever conceit of the film was the wide angle shot of the couple’s bedroom from the camera allowing the horror to derive from a door closing in the background or a shadow possibly passing by; the viewer questioning whether it was real or a trick of the brain constructed through anxiety and fear. Fly Davis’ intricately constructed set goes another step beyond this. Our ‘wide shot’ is the whole house: a two-story hyper realistic ‘doll house’ onstage. It is a visionary design allowing the other creatives of the production license to play. Anna Watson’s lighting design and Gareth Fry’s sound design ramp up the terror to allow for misdirection and jump scares as Chris Fisher’s incredible illusions keep the audience on the edge of their seat.
Horror in the theatre is a difficult genre to master. Unlike film, the collective reaction of a theatre audience that jumps is to follow it with nervous laughter. This happens several times and despite it being a collective sigh of relief it will always break the tension somewhat. That said, it is not long before the intensity returns. There will be high hopes for its success and there is no doubt it will have it. The only spoiler is that Paranormal Activity: A New Haunting Live On Stage is a terrifying good show. You might want to close your eyes and look for eigengrau!
Runs until 3rd August 2024.
The Reviews Hub Score
Terrifyingly good show
