Review Round-Up: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY at the Ambassadors Theatre

The highly anticipated stage adaptation of Oren Peli’s blockbuster horror movie franchise of the same name is directed by Punchdrunk’s Felix Barrett, and written by Levi Holloway (Grey House). It follows a young American couple (Patrick Heusinger as James and Melissa James as Lou) who move to London to escape the ghosts of their past but soon find themselves haunted by a malicious supernatural entity. Pippa Winslow and Jackie Morrison also star as Carolanne and Etheline Cotgrave respectively. The talented creative team includes set and costume design by Fly Davis, illusion design by Chris Fisher, video design by Luke Halls, lighting design by Anna Watson, and sound design by Gareth Fry.

What are critics saying about Paranormal Activity?

TimeOut

“Shockingly good”

★★★★

Is Paranormal Activity scary? In Andrzej Lukowski’s words: “the answer here is a frazzled ‘oh my, yes’.” He thought the set, depicting James and Lou’s new house, “captures the genre’s claustrophobia nicely” even without the found footage element that made the films famous. He praised “Levi Holloway’s smartly constructed script” and Felix Barrett’s success in delivering “creepily atmospheric theatre”. He appreciated that the play “avoids manipulative jump scares in favour of unnerving moments of rug pulling”, creating “a truly weird experience, elated and suffocating at once.” He was pleased with the twist ending, which “satisfyingly clicks into place at its denouement.” He concluded: “It’s a slick, self-contained two hours of mounting terror that… serves as a showcase for the type of tricks a great creative team can accomplish in a theatre: some techy, some old fashioned, all effective.”

Read the review here.

The Evening Standard

“The scariest show on the West End?”

★★★★

Nick Curtis wrote, “If you enjoy the deliciously creepy feeling of your hair stirring on your tightening scalp in anticipation of terror, Paranormal Activity is the show for you.” He enjoyed Fly Davis’s set design, which depicts the haunted house “like a dolls’ house with the front off.”, with ominous details thrown in. In terms of scariness, “Barrett uses the full armoury of stage frights, from crash blackouts and sudden blaring rock music, to jump scares wrought through sound and lighting effects.” He commented, “I’m not sure the story entirely makes sense, but this show is more about mood and nerve-jangling startlement than narrative logic.” He praised “Fisher’s clever illusions”, which “make for proper leap-out-of-your-skin moments.” On the cast, he wrote, “James gives a strong performance as the withdrawn and troubled Lou, and Heusinger is equally good as the mansplaining Jamie.”

Read the review here.

The Times

“This play is as terrifying as the film”

★★★★

Rachel Halliburton was impressed by how well the play does justice to the films’ legacy, with “a full range of disorientating, rationality-defying effects to summon the terror wattage of the original.” She also praised Holloway’s “cleverly understated, often very funny script”, and Davis’s “meticulously observed two-storey set.” “Chris Fisher’s stunning illusions prove the coup de grâce, challenging the pelvic floor as much as the mind,” she wrote, while “Gareth Fry’s soundscape floods the theatre with sonorous rumblings.”

Read the review here.

Patrick Heusinger and Melissa James in PARANORMAL ACTIVITY at the Ambassadors Theatre. Photo by Johan Persson.

Financial Times

“A thrilling theatrical take on the horror movie franchise”

★★★★

Sarah Hemming called it “an unsettling, often terrifying show” and “a brilliantly terrifying stage response” to the films. She particularly enjoyed how much it relied on the audience’s imagination to evoke terror. Instead of the film’s found footage technique, it “ramps up stealthily the live and contagious sense of dread.” She wrote, “Fly Davis’s cleverly nuanced set has way too many dark corners for comfort” and builds a sense of “nervous anticipation” even before we get to “the real scares — expert misdirection from Barrett and fabulous illusions from Chris Fisher.” She also appreciated that “Holloway’s script explores that liminal space where the supernatural blurs with the psychological.” Of the cast, she wrote, “Heusinger and James give subtly shifting performances that continually muddy the water.” Her verdict: “a cracking ghost story so skilfully delivered by the creative team that it is all too liable to follow you home.”

Read the review here.

The Stage

“Truly terrifying experience”

★★★★

Tom Wicker called the show “a nerve-wracking success”, which “expertly translated” the films to the stage. He appreciated how Holloway’s script “gives us a pared-back ghost story”, without the “increasingly elaborate demonic mythology” of the films. He praised both Heusinger and James for how they brought to life the characters’ nuances and complexities, as well as their growing estrangement as a couple. Barrett, he thought, “handles the ghostly goings-on brilliantly by constantly holding back.” Of the creative, he wrote, “Anna Watson’s lighting turns the domestic detail of Fly Davis’s split-level set into a place of moving shadows”, while the supernatural effects are “spectacularly handled by illusionist Chris Fisher.” There are no “cheap scares”, but ones that are “impressively accomplished and always tightly woven into the story, from a scary bait-and-switch to subtler but no less nerve-shredding moments of dread.”

Read the review here.

London Box Office

“Slick and scary show”

★★★★

Stuart King also praised Chris Fisher’s “visual trickery”, which worked astoundingly well hand-in-hand with Fly Davis’s set and costume design, and the lighting, sound, and video design by Anna Watson, Gareth Fry, and Luke Halls. He wrote, “the creative team have deployed their combined skills and talents to realise some genuinely creepy and unnerving moments which will surprise and please any fans of the horror genre.” He concluded: “The slick and scary show is sure to gain a very loyal word of mouth following.”

Read the review here.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY at the Ambassadors Theatre. Photo by Johan Persson.

WhatsOnStage

“A hauntingly good stage adaptation”

★★★★

Rachel Agyekum thought the play delivered “an unsettling live experience you won’t soon forget.” “Using technical stagecraft and clever illusions, the piece is genuinely haunting,” she wrote, noting the clear inspiration from Barrett’s background in immersive productions. She commented, “Holloway writes a naturalistic dialogue, including some amusing moments that provide comic relief”, while the cast “deliver strong performances”, particularly James, who is “outstanding” as Lou. She thought that the “Ambassadors Theatre’s intimate setting works well for this type of claustrophobic horror”, and Fly Davis’s set design “is realistic and intricately detailed”. “Chris Fisher brings masterful illusion tricks that leave the audience audibly gasping”, while the production “opts for a slow-burn, with suspense building through prolonged silences and creeping shadows.” She found the first half of the story “quite drawn out and slow”, but “the second act ramps up and delivers a gripping tale, full of twists and turns.” Her conclusion: “It’s entertaining, frightening and has cemented itself in the horror theatre hall of fame.”

Read the review here.

The Telegraph

“A spook-a-thon mounted with devious technical finesse”

★★★★

Tim Robey warned, “you won’t know what’s coming next.” He found Holloway’s script to be “a well-honed contraption, concentrating on the dark secrets within a marriage, not just the external forces tormenting them”, though he found the characters’ discussions about their marriage to be less naturalistic in their portrayal. Gareth Fry’s sound design, meanwhile, “creates a bed of unease with blaring shocks.” He concluded, “The story works pretty well – but it’s essentially an engine to spring nasty surprises on the audience.”

Read the review here.

The Guardian

“This fright night leaves you spellbound and spooked”

★★★★

Kate Wyver praised the production’s “expert direction and eye-catching stagecraft”, and thought that it “proves how jaw-clenchingly, arm-clutchingly frightening horror on stage can be.” “Chris Fisher’s eye-popping illusions”, she felt, evoked “a giddy, awe-filled delight at the devilry we just witnessed.” She wrote, “Anna Watson’s quicksilver lighting smartly directs our attention around the house.” While she found the script to be “perfunctory, and some of it is deeply hammy”, she overall found it to be “a dexterous production, with every technical element ramping up tension and toying with expectations.” She commented, “Every jump scare is earned, every trick embedded in the twisted narrative of this poor, doomed couple.”

Read the review here.

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