Overview
- The stage adaptation of Paranormal Activity opened at the August Wilson Theatre after runs in Leeds, the West End and several U.S. cities, using a two-story cutaway “dollhouse” set to focus audience attention.
- Director Felix Barrett applies immersive attention-direction while keeping patrons seated, and the creative team deploys practical illusions, bold lighting and bass-heavy sound to recreate the films’ fixed-camera tension.
- Audiences have reacted loudly and collectively to repeated jump scares, with critics noting genuine gasps, shrieks and relief-fueled laughter as central to the experience.
- Reviewers praise the technical design and visceral effect but fault Levi Holloway’s script for thin character development and uneven pacing that limit the play’s dramatic weight.
- Backed by Blumhouse and Paramount, the limited Broadway transfer is being treated as a commercial experiment to see if film-franchise spectacle can bring younger, nontraditional theatergoers into Broadway houses.