Paranormal Activity is set to haunt the stage in London and across the United States with a new play inspired by the found-footage horror hit.
Paranormal Activity: A New Story Live on Stage will stay at London's Ambassadors Theatre for 12 weeks starting on December 5, before embarking on a North American tour with stops at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Center Theatre Group and Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington DC, and American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco.
Per Variety, who reported the news exclusively earlier today, Paranormal Activity: A New Story Live on Stage is a new spin on Oren Peli's 2007 supernatural horror, rather than a direct adaptation of that or any Paranormal Activity sequels. Felix Barrett (Sleep No More) directs from a script by Levi Holloway (Grey House).
In Paranormal Activity: A New Story Live on Stage, a couple, James and Lou, move from Chicago to London and discover a haunting presence in their home. So they use a camera to document the unsettling shadow in their midst. Per Variety, the show is described as a reimagining of the modern ghost story with an “unsettling intimacy only theater can provide.”
In an official statement, here's what Barrett had to say about taking on the multi-million dollar franchise for the stage:
“I’m so thrilled that ‘Paranormal’ will have a chance to ensnare and unnerve audiences in London later this year […] From seeing the advertising campaign of the film 20 years ago, where you watched cinema audiences leap out of their chairs in horror, I have long wondered how you could recreate that visceral reaction in a theater setting. How do you bring one of the most frightening films to life? How do you break the inherent safety that a plush West End theater offers? It’s been an incredible challenge, and we cannot wait to see how London audiences respond.”
Holloway adds:
“Collaborating with Felix Barrett to create an actual nightmare has been nothing short of a dream […] Relishing in a shared language of dread, we’ve conspired to create something impossible, mixing the familiar with the uncanny, heart with horror. London audiences have a nose for honesty on stage and little patience for anything else. They’ll find it here, right alongside all the mischief we’ve made to trouble their sleep.”
Check out the eerie new trailer for Paranormal Activity: A New Story Live on Stage below:
