Paranormal Activity

I can't pretend I've seen all the Paranormal Activity films, but I do know they rely heavily on the found footage method of storytelling. I was intrigued by how this would be replicated in a live theatre setting. How could it be? The answer is that they, probably wisely, didn't even try. In fairness, the play does use the films' broad template. A young couple move into a house together. Lou believes something supernatural has been following her since childhood. So far, so familiar. The play is creepy, rather than shocking, mimicking the film franchise by building tension rather than relying entirely on jump scares. The branding is therefore fair, if a little tenuous, but it brings with it the issue of expectation. In a nutshell, here was an audience who knew what to expect, and expected it to be delivered in short order.

As a consequence, I heard mumbling in the interval that the first half lacked pace. I've read reviews that said the same. I think this is wrong. What we got in the first half was a carefully calibrated portrait of a loving couple. James Bye and Hannah Sinclair Robinson were both excellent. There seemed to be a genuine chemistry between the performers that injected a raw authenticity into their relationship. James sympathised, but could not empathise, with Lou's belief in the supernatural. She's on medication, after all. Perhaps it's all in her mind.

The challenge for a theatre production is that we see what she sees, without the ambiguity a film can portray. Therefore, the narrative requires at least a period of time when not much happens if James's attitude is to make any kind of sense. I rather admired Levi Holloway's reluctance to dive straight into the supernatural, his text instead focusing on the complexity of their relationship.

Nonetheless, he did have to deliver to an audience that, unlike the characters, knows what's coming, and when the first big shock comes, it's expertly executed. It's the first of several cracking illusions created by Chris Fisher for the production, all of them good value. If I have a misgiving, it's that they were so good they tended to take me out of the drama as I pondered how on earth they did that. Unlike a film, where your focus is directed, in the theatre you look where you think best. Occasionally I was guided by the gasps from the audience, signalling something was going on that I missed. Was that a shadow I saw? Did that door swing open of its own accord? When Lou nervously made her way upstairs, someone in the audience made an involuntary cry of protest that had everyone laughing. It only added to the fun of sharing a live performance.

Not everything paid off. There were oddly protracted blackouts between scenes, accompanied by Gareth Fry's unnerving sound design. I imagine this was intended to build tension, but a theatre-literate audience is bound to expect a significant scene change or big reveal. Instead we got James Bye with his head in his hands or both of them asleep on the sofa. Fly Davis's meticulously designed split-level set was a marvel to behold, but, aside from Bye's scene-stealing trip to the loo, was only intermittently exploited. Caroline Faber had the thankless task of portraying the token expert, Etheline Cotgrave. Perhaps she was a nod to Dr Fredrichs, who in the first film came and then left, but I felt her inclusion added little.

These are minor quibbles, however, in sharp contrast to the tension that built throughout the second half. Caroline Faber was dealt a much better hand as the overbearing Mother on video call. Her appearance in the flesh made much more sense than Cotgrave's, as did her sudden unexpected departure. The uncanny became unusually corporeal as actors, rather than effects, took on the task of unnerving us. All of which led up to the obligatory twist that neatly tied up some loose ends, and a final shocking special effect that had the audience gasping.

I've seen several supernatural plays at the Theatre Royal. Haunting Julia, Ghost Stories and 2:22 all come to mind. They all had their merits, but this was easily the best of the bunch. I've had to skip around the substance of the play in order to preserve surprise, but I can assure you that there was more than enough to satisfy (to borrow Danny Robins's classification) Team Believer and Team Sceptic - depending on your nervous disposition, this was either terrifying or a hoot. A combination of superbly judged performances, astonishing special effects and a satisfying conclusion added up to a hugely entertaining night out at the theatre that thoroughly deserved the whoops of audience appreciation at curtain call.