PicksInSix Review: Paranormal Activity - Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
Collectively Spooked: No Spoilers, Macabre Chills
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Sarah Frances Fiorello
The Yard is thick with an eerie haze this Halloween season as “Paranormal Activity” settles in to spook Navy Pier patrons right out of their seats. Before the house lights dim, be sure to say a proper hello to your seatmates—you may find yourself gripping their hand before the night is over.
Written and restaged by Chicago’s own Levi Holloway (Broadway: “Grey House”), “Paranormal Activity” receives its North American debut now through November 2nd at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Rounding out the creative team are director Felix Barrett (Broadway: “Viola’s Room”, Off Broadway: “Sleep No More”) and Drama Desk Award / Outer Critics Circle / Tony Award Winning Stage Illusionist Chris Fisher (Broadway: “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”). This new, original play lives in the world of the film franchise by the same name. The film “Paranormal Activity" is an indie-horror classic, reportedly shot on a home video camera with a $15,000 budget before ultimately grossing over $193 million.
The curtain rises on newlyweds James and Lou settling into their cozy new home in rainy London. Relieved to leave behind their haunted life in Chicago, the couple slowly learns the truth of the play’s tagline: places aren’t haunted, people are. Bolstered by the incredible hyperrealism of Fly Davis’s scenic design, we are immediately transported into the most micro and intimate moments of their marriage: Lou’s struggle with mental health, James’s often misguided but loving desire to support her, and his overbearing mother who adds stress and strain to the seams of their relationship in a way that only a mother-in-law can. There are plenty of scares to come before the final curtain, but not at the expense of rock-solid storytelling: an emotionally driven journey of two people who, despite supernatural odds, are fighting tooth and nail for their relationship.
Cher Álvarez (Lou) and Patrick Heusinger (James, who also originated the role at Leeds Playhouse) brilliantly navigate two plus hours of emotional complexity alongside expertly timed edge-of-your-seat thrills as they explore and unpack, literally and figuratively, what has followed them across the pond. Fisher’s illusions are a must see and second to none: elegant, subtle, and exacting, drawing us in to ask the same questions as Lou and James—did you see what I just saw, or am I not-so-slowly going crazy?
“Paranormal Activity” at its core, reinforces so many of the reasons we go to the theatre. Two such elements are on full display in this piece: a voyeuristic look from a safe distance into the human condition and a reminder that our lives, both in the physical and metaphysical world, contain a full range of thought-provoking experiences without the need for AI, glossy filters, or overblown CGI. Life itself is often terrifying enough.
“Paranormal Activity” is for adult audiences and contains disturbing content, horror, loud noises, sudden darkness, and stage blood. This hair-raising production will continue its North American tour with stops in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and San Francisco on both ends of a 12-week scheduled engagement on the West End, beginning in December 2025.
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | SARAH FRANCES FIORELLO is a graduate of Shenandoah Conservatory with a BFA in Music Theatre and a Chicago-based poet, writer, and performer. Instagram: @writtenbysarahfrances
PHOTO | Kyle Flubacker
Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
presents
Paranormal Activity
The Yard
Navy Pier
through November 2, 2025
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