Paranormal Activity gets ‘wildly different’ stage premiere

The original film showed a couple who were plagued by unexplained phenomena in their home

The two men behind the world premiere stage adaptation of hit horror film Paranormal Activity currently know all about being woken by loud cries in the middle of the night.

Director Felix Barrett and writer Levi Holloway’s nocturnal activity isn’t paranormal, though. It’s parental.

“We both have six-month-old babies,” Holloway says to explain why the pair are even more bleary-eyed than they might usually be in the frantic final preparations for a major new show.

“The only paranormal activity I know is at 03:30 with the cry for milk. That comes quite regularly at the moment,” Barrett jokes.

“Yeah, we’re both very haunted,” Holloway adds wryly.

They haven’t let night-time disturbances stop them from coming to the Leeds Playhouse theatre’s café first thing in the morning to talk about their production – and fill up on coffee – before starting their last week of rehearsals.

With Paranormal Activity, they are taking on a modern horror classic.

In 2009, the film terrified audiences by showing an everyday young couple, Katie and Micah, at the mercy of unexplained forces in their San Diego home.

The film’s “found footage” was all supposedly shot on Micah’s video camera

It became one of the most profitable films ever, if box office takings are compared with the original production budget. It cost just $15,000 (£8,000) to make and went on to earn $193m (£125m) – then spawned a franchise that took another $700m (£435m).

The stage version isn’t a simple recreation, but few details have been revealed so far.

Instead of posting the usual promotional blurb to persuade us to buy a ticket, the theatre website simply lists Barrett and Holloway’s names, then adds: “We can’t say anything else.” (Although if you click on the obligatory trigger warning, it also pledges that the show will feature “loud noises, sudden darkness, blood and gore with references to mental health”.)

Barrett and Holloway give up some more scraps of information.

“I think we can comfortably say that it’s wildly different than the film,” says playwright Holloway.

“Wildly different but I think still familiar,” Barrett adds.

“It takes its essence. The events are different, but the texture and the quality is very much inspired by the film because it’s very effective.

“If people love Paranormal Activity, then they’ll bond with this for sure.”