Grab Your Seats: ‘Paranormal Activity’ Possesses Audiences at STC

There’s something deliciously daring about settling into a seat at the Shakespeare Theatre’s Harman Hall knowing the next 90 minutes may make you flinch, gasp, or grip your neighbor’s arm like a lifeline. (Especially if you are a verified scaredy cat like me!) Paranormal Activity on stage doesn’t just flirt with fear, it full-on files for residency, conjuring a night of shivers and startles that feels tailor-made for a city that prides itself on keeping its composure.

Adapted from the cult-favorite film franchise, this theatrical incarnation trades handheld cameras for cunning craft. The result is a smart, spine-tingling spectacle that understands the power of suggestion. Doors don’t just creak; they conspire. Shadows stalk. And the silence… it settles over the audience like a spell, daring anyone to breathe too loudly.

The live play’s staging is a master class in misdirection and mood. The two-story dollhouse set is brilliant and terrifyingly. Set pieces shift with unsettling ease. And what starts out as domestic normalcy is quickly transformed into a pressure cooker of paranoia.

Sound and lighting weaponize whispers and flashes, delivering jump scares with surgical precision. You’ll swear the thud you heard came from behind you. (It didn’t. Probably.)

What makes Paranormal Activity particularly potent is its commitment to character amid the chaos. The central couple’s — James (Travis A. Knight) and Lou (Cher Alvarez) — unraveling feels intimate and immediate, grounding the ghostly goings-on in emotional reality. As their skepticism sours into dread, the audience follows, collectively leaning forward… and collectively bracing for the bang.

Paranormal Activity offers a different kind of drama. This is one that bypasses the brain and goes straight for the bones. It’s bold, it’s buzzy, and it’s undeniably fun in a scream-into-your-scarf sort of way. Consider this your warning — and your invitation.

Paranormal Activity is on stage at the Shakespeare Theatre through February 7th. Runtime: Approximately two hours with one 15-minute intermission.