Paranormal Activity Cast and Creators Reveal How the Horror Hit Haunts Broadway

The new Broadway season is kicking off with Paranormal Activity, the stage thriller inspired by the horror franchise of the same name. The play, directed by Sleep No More’s Felix Barrett and written by Levi Holloway, follows newlyweds James and Lou as they move from Chicago to London—and the ghosts that follow. Broadway.com spoke with stars Travis A. Knight, Cher Álvarez, Shannon Cochran and Eva Kaminsky, along with Barrett and Holloway, about haunting the August Wilson Theatre and the tender center of this ghost story.

Holloway, the author of a previous Broadway thriller, Grey House, looks to mix horror with humanity. “If you set out to scare people, you’re probably off on the wrong foot,” he says. “But if you tell a story that they can find themselves in and be immersed on a deeply subliminal, human level… those things feel familiar to us. Then you can really f**k ‘em up after that,” he jokes.

Known for his work creating the immersive and eerie Sleep No More, Barrett notes that Paranormal Activity is not what you mght expect. “It’s quite joyous, actually,” he says. “There are moments of surprise, but then you can laugh and you get cathartic release. From day one, we approached it not to be just frightening.”

Knight and Álvarez are making their Broadway debuts in the production. Playing the story’s main couple, they are responsible for the audience’s emotional attachment to the material. “People will be surprised how much they care about the relationships of these people on stage,” Knight says. “It’s also such a communal experience,” adds Álvarez. “It really does become such an interactive show.”

While the show is not immersive like Barrett’s previous projects, there is a similar absorption that occurs amongst audience members. “By the time the performance is over, you will have formed a little community with the people you are sitting with,” says Cochran. Kaminsky provides a quick checklist before going into the show: “Be brave and bring your best scream and your sense of humor. There’s nothing like being in a house full of people experiencing fear together,” she adds.

Watch the video below.

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