'Paranormal Activity' Brings Jump-Scares and Spooky Vibes to the Stage at ACT

"Places aren't haunted, people are. This line, delivered by Etheline over the radio at the opening of the show, first drew ACT Artistic Director Pam McKinnon into the script and serves as the central philosophical premise of the stage adaptation, reframing the supernatural horror from environmental to personal psychological territory."

"The action of the play all takes place in a dollhouse-like, two-story set, a home in a suburban area, presumably near London, where American couple Lou and James have recently moved for James's job. In the opening scene, we learn that Lou is on medication after some mental health episodes that seem to be unexplained, and that began when the couple lived in Chicago."

"Much like the first film, the story is primarily about this couple, and how one or both of them are being haunted and tormented by a supernatural being but in this version we don't have all the found footage and video-recording tropes of the film. There are still technical components, namely the TV monitor that doubles as a Facetime monitor on the wall of the kitchen."

A stage play adaptation of a horror film franchise premiered at San Francisco's ACT after touring Chicago, DC, and LA. Written by Levi Hollway and directed by Felix Barrett, the production centers on an American couple, Lou and James, who recently moved to a suburban home near London. Lou struggles with unexplained mental health episodes from her time in Chicago, and both characters experience supernatural torment from a haunting entity. Unlike the film's found-footage approach, the stage version employs technical elements including TV monitors, a sound system, and a mysterious frequency-detecting device operated by spirit expert Etheline Cotgrave. The production explores the concept that people, rather than places, become haunted, unfolding across two acts over approximately two hours.

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