House of Horrors
“Paranormal Activity” at the Ahmanson Theatre
by Bondo Wyszpolski
Inspired by, rather than based on, the films of the same name, this spooky drama is a sort of belated Halloween show with scare tactics reminiscent of funhouse mazes. Something’s gonna jump out at you… You just don’t know when.
“Paranormal Activity,” written by Levi Holloway and directed by Felix Barrett, is masterfully done, and the effects are good enough to startle the viewer, even those in the very last rows of the Ahmanson, which is a pretty large auditorium. I had thought that the Taper would be a better venue for this show, since the set consists of a sliced or cutaway view of an entire house, with kitchen and living room, plus upstairs bedroom, bathroom, and so on.
Of course that generates its own problems, which are those of intimacy. You wouldn’t want to sit too close to the stage because you’d be likely to miss certain details in one corner or another, but you also don’t want to sit too far back for basically the same reason. The drawback with sitting farther back, and I saw the play from somewhat deep in the orchestra section, is that some of the dialogue will inevitably be lost, plus some of the visual effects lose their impact if you don’t see them as clearly as might be intended.
That sounds like nitpicking, and maybe it is to some extent. There isn’t an available script with which one can pour over the dialogue beforehand, simply because the creators don’t want the cat out of the bag, which I suppose is understandable. And I say this because the opening ten minutes or so of dialogue is crucial to what follows, and if you don’t catch all of it then you’re a bit clueless as the story unfolds to a somewhat dubious climax.
But here’s the basic story: A young married couple, Lou (Cher Álvarez) and James (Patrick Heusinger) have moved from Chicago to London, and taken up residence in a home that may or may not have had a haunted past. James’ mother, Carolanne (Shannon Cochran) is something of an invasive species, and overly concerned about Lou, who has a tragic past (her parents burned in a house fire when she was young). James, as it turns out, has a skeleton (or ghost) in his closet as well, although you won’t learn of this until much later.
The creators know that they have two weapons at their disposal, what you see and what you hear. Obviously they can’t smell up the auditorium or douse the audience with cold water, so they ramp it up with noise, loud, disorienting, and at times brutal noise. It’s a “shock and awe” effect, and it works.
Now, I personally don’t need such effects to involve me in a story where weird or unexplainable things are happening. I think of the plays by J.B. Priestley, for example, specifically “When an Inspector Calls,” which teases us with matters that defy normal logic, and where subtlety can be as potent as an ear-splitting blast. But, hey, this is a new generation, and if you can pull off some dazzling effects and illusions then why not?
Rationally, one might think, why don’t Lou and James just pack up and move out? Instead, they call in a psychic or medium, one Etheline Cotgrave (Kate Fry), who comes over with her candles and whatnot, and tries to contact someone in the spiritual world. To say this goes badly is an understatement, and any sensible couple would be out the door pronto. But as we know, the characters in horror films or plays are too dumb or stubborn to do that.
Actually, the most surprising effect (I’m not sure if one should label it shocking) is when James goes into the bathroom to urinate. One of the most normal things in the world, right, but you rarely if ever see this in live theater (it’s all staged, but we do hear the sound of cascading water, if I may put it in such terms).
I should also note that more often than not the Ahmanson features Broadway musicals and the like, and musicals tend to be more fun and games than serious works by Ibsen or Albee or Arthur Miller. That’s what the Taper is for. That said, I have the feeling that the Center Theatre Group’s new artistic director, Snehal Desai, is reaching out for a much younger audience than his predecessors, Michael Ritchie and Gordon Davidson. There was a paradigm shift during and after the pandemic, and many in the older crowd, who had subscriptions year after year, bowed out when the programming changed (“& Juliet”? No thanks). Ritchie and Davidson would never have come out on stage before the shows, the way Desai does with his pratter.
And so, back to “Paranormal Activity,” a suspenseful, edge-of-the seat thrill ride, if that’s your thing, with scenic and costume design by Fly Davis, lighting design by Anna Watson, sound design by Gareth Fry, video design by Luke Halls, and illusions by Chris Fisher. If one finds the play memorable, it’s thanks to them.
Paranormal Activity is onstage at the Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles in the Music Center. Performances: Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.; no Sunday evening performance on December 7; special Thursday matinee, December 4 at 2 p.m. Tickets, $40.25 are about the lowest, up to around $134 or higher. In person at the box office, by calling (213) 628-2772, or via the website CenterTheatreGroup.org. ER
