Boo! There that’s got that out of the way to begin with. Lurking in the shadows so close to Halloween is an unsettlingly spooky play whose title is “Paranormal Activity” a reincarnation of the film of the same name, but with a whole new plot line and characters. I’ve no idea why but perhaps as the evening inflicts its creepy self upon the unsuspecting folk in the darkness of the Alexandra theatre, we may find out. The 2007 movie from which this was spawned was created by Oren Pell as an independent picture purporting to use “found footage” and shot for $15,000 – not much but could certainly pay off a chunk of my mortgage. Dreamworks got their claws on it and tweaked and adapted the movie and it’s ending for $200,000 – which could pay off me and most of my friend’s mortgages – and ended up earning a humungous $194 million which could pay off the mortgages of a large part of East Finchley. And thus, was born yet another horror/supernatural film series. Elm Street then Friday Thirteenth then Scream then I know what you did and then something else spooky. According to the pre-press bumf we get this is in the style-of but not related to the original film. What that means and what that I entails I’ve really no idea, but hold my hand as we step into the darkness together and…
Oh, my god what’s that behind you! Ha! Caught you again!
…we find two solid and assured performances from James Bye and Hannah Sinclair Robinson who deftly navigate their way through some extensive expositions which would seem clunky in less talented hands and convincingly evoke a sincere and plausible relationship around which the events revolve and manage to hold their own through two scenes only to be join in the third by another actor, Jo Castleton, as the inevitable medium who was bound to emerge eventually.
I’m not giving much away when I say it’s a haunted house play – sort of – with ghosts – kind of – and some highly unsettling moments – maybe. The play is adroitly helmed by Felix Barrett who manages to stay true to the original style while still ensuring a unique flavour. The set is stunning and looks like it could easily be lived in, but the real stars of the show are Coda Renken and Simon McCorry who enchant, beguile and bewitch us with a fabulously subversive, subliminal sound track which relentlessly taps, taps, taps at our nerves throughout without once outstaying its welcome and provides some genuinely spine-tinglingy aural moments
Boo!
Reviewer: Peter Kinnock
Reviewed: 27th October 2026
North West End UK Rating: