Paranormal Activity on Broadway

review, paranormal activity, broadway

 

I'm going to keep this review brief, because to go into any detail would be to spoil the show...and this is a show you don't want spoiled.

"Paranormal Activity" - a new, limited run Broadway play, is based on the successful film franchise which came to prominence by using the "Blair Witch" found footage technique, adding some well executed special effects, and taking the genre to a whole other level.

How is that supposed to work onstage? Well, not in the same way a film does. But having the "creep" exist in the same room as you is becoming a successful theatrical formula in it's own right, and "Paranormal Activity" (on Broadway) executes it well.

review, paranormal activity, broadway,
Travis A. Knight and Cher Álvarez. Photo by Matthew Murphy

The basic (spoiler free) plot is this: Married couple James (Travis A. Knight) and Lou (Cher Álvarez) have just moved from the States to London following what was either a traumatizing paranormal experience by Lou, or Lou having a full on breakdown. James, deciding they needed to get out of their old ("triggering") apartment, took a job in London (Lou can work from home) and is hoping that the new environment, coupled with the intense medication Lou has agreed to try, will put their troubles behind them.

But this is a play called "Paranormal Activity" so, obviously, it doesn't.

The play itself (by Levi Holloway) is actually pretty well written. I'm not familiar with the "Paranormal Activity" film franchise, so I have no idea if the play follows the plot of any of the films or is entirely original. Either way it's a decently well put together story (something I can't say for most of the current NYC theatrical offerings.) The problem is, we all know what the "gimmick" of the piece is and so every time certain elements come into play (James casting his FaceTime call with his mom onto a screen in the kitchen, a bell he gifts Lou as a way to dispel her fears of the supernatural) we're not just taking them as part and parcel of the story (which Holloway has done a smart job of actually integrating them into the story), we know they're framed set-ups of things that are going to go haywire later. The second that screen in the kitchen was used I was waiting for it to be used for supernatural scares. The second the bell was introduced I was waiting for it to start ringing incessantly. I don't know what the solution would be here as these kinds of set-ups are required for strong payoffs (obviously), but, especially in a theatrical setting where we know any illusions will have HAD to have been carefully crafted by the creative team, and repeatable eight shows a week, it starts to feel like less subtle foreshadowing and more a checklist of thinks that we should ooo and ahhh at when they get checked off later one by one. 

review, paranormal activity, broadway
Travis A. Knight and Cher Álvarez. Photo by Matthew Murphy

The show is well directed by Felix Barrett and the design is impeccable (set and costumes by Fly Davis, lighting by Anna Watson, sound by Gareth Fry, video and projection design by Luke Halls, and, perhaps most importantly, illusions by Chris Fisher, who also worked on "Stranger Things" and "Cursed Child." 

It feels more and more that the draw of live theater is "watching magical things happen in the room with you" - but done more spectacularly, and with more of a narrative, than most magic shows. "Stranger Things", "Cursed Child" and now "Paranormal Activity" - all have decent scripts (let's face it their scripts are stronger than many other offerings if not "spectacular"... ) but you're going to see them for the illusion work (which is spectacular and it's exciting to see this new vocabulary incorporated into the theatrical mainstream). I'm torn between being excited by this new genre, and worried that it's erasing important things about theater - namely a purpose outside of thrills and chills. 

review, paranormal activity, broadway
Travis A. Knight and Cher Álvarez. Photo by Matthew Murphy


Laura Sele

Paranormal Activity is currently playing on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre

Tickets: https://paranormalbroadway.com/tickets#pricing-tiers

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