A stage show based on Paranormal Activity, one of the world’s most successful horror film franchises, brings spooks aplenty to Birmingham theatre The Alexandra this month - with the final performance taking place on Halloween itself! A major hit in the West End - and featuring a new story set in the world of the films - the production stars ex-EastEnder James Bye, who here explains what horror-loving theatre-goers can expect…

Get into the Halloween spirit, in more ways than one, as Paranormal Activity hits the stage at Birmingham theatre The Alexandra. Featuring a new story - one set in the same world as the popular horror film franchise - the theatrical production is now providing chills and thrills at venues around the UK, having previously found success in both the US and the London West End.

James Bye - best known for his decade spent playing Martin Fowler in EastEnders - stars in the production as his namesake, James. He’s joined on stage by just three other cast members: Hannah Sinclair Robinson, Jo Castleton and Caroline Faber.

“It’s a fresh story about a recently married couple from Chicago, who’ve only been together a couple of years,” James told What’s On. “They move to London for a fresh start. As we move through the play, we suddenly start to realise that they’re trying to escape something… As much as it’s a horror, it’s also kind of a love story. It’s about a new couple and the trials and tribulations that everyone goes through.”
The Paranormal Activity franchise includes seven edge-of-the-seat feature films - and the play promises a similarly spooky experience.

“It sneaks up on you,” says James. “There are moments where it’s relentless, and there are moments where we sit in it. Every night is different. Some audiences are super vocal, some are silent. For us, it’s a new show every night. There’s four of us in the cast, and the audience is like the fifth character.

“I appreciate the genre. I get why people are obsessed with it, and why there are mega fans. Personally, I’m a scaredy cat! I can’t watch [horror] without losing sleep for a week or so. I think the last thing I watched was The Blair Witch Project! It’s weird because I love it - I just know that it’s gonna hit me that night. It’s a bit like when you eat junk food, but you know it’s gonna give you indigestion or heartburn.”

While James is keen to reassure audiences that any occult action won’t stray past the footlights, the films’ ‘found footage’ style is represented on stage by clever and ambitious design.

“The writer, Levi Holloway, and director, Felix Barrett, are really specific with the way they want the show to look. The set is just amazing. The way I describe it, it looks like a doll’s house. There’s an upstairs to it; it’s an actual house. At any one time, you can see into every room of this couple’s home, so even though they might be upstairs in their bedroom chatting away, there might be other things happening elsewhere… We really want to lean into that feeling that the audience are in the house with us. It’s not immersive - I think a lot of people are put off by these shows because they think people are going to be grabbing them. There’s none of that. You’re very, very safe. We want you to have a great time, but at the same time, we want you to feel that tension throughout.”

Paranormal Activity is the latest in a tradition of on-stage horror shows which has been steadily growing in popularity. James puts this down to the excitement of a communal live experience: “Maybe it’s something to do with the fact that when you normally watch horror, it’d be at home, on your own, or with your partner or your friends. It’s a solitary thing. With these successful productions that have happened in the genre, it’s like a community - you’re all getting scared together.

“I think horror is just a perfect genre to take people on that journey. They’re not just watching actors on stage. The way that Paranormal Activity is - with all the illusions and the jump scares and the sounds and the music - it’s a real experience. People are really starting to understand that, and they’re getting themselves into the theatres, which is amazing.”

The stage show might rely on illusions to bring about ghostly occurrences, but James keeps an open mind when it comes to real-life paranormal activity.

“I haven’t had any significant ghost encounters, other than what I’ve probably now put down to my imagination as a kid. I don’t not believe, but the thing is, I don’t know, so in that sense, I guess I do? I know people who are adamant - ‘No way, it’s nonsense’ - but I’m not like that. Take from that what you will.”

While he’s no stranger to touring stage shows, James hasn’t ever performed in Birmingham, so he can’t wait to bring Paranormal Activity to the city and the region.

“Every actor I know who’s done a play in or around Birmingham has had the best time. Super excited to bring it to the Midlands! It’s done so well on Broadway and in the West End. For it to be on tour less than a year after it opened in [London], I feel privileged to bring this to the [rest of the country]. It’s such a good play.”

Paranormal Activity opens at The Alexandra on Tuesday the 27th of October, with the final performance taking place on Halloween itself. James is thrilled to be bringing the production to Birmingham at the spookiest time of the year: “Arguably, they’re going to be the best shows of the whole tour! If you’ve got no plans for Halloween, I promise you now, you will not get a better experience. If you want to lean into that world, this is the show to come and see...

“The rest of the cast in the show, they are the best of the best. They’re so, so talented. It’s a real joy - audiences in the West Midlands are in for a treat.”

Paranormal Activity shows at The Alexandra, Birmingham, from Tuesday 27 to Saturday 31 October. 
The production returns to the region in 2027, visiting the Wolverhampton Grand from Tuesday 9 to Saturday 13 February, and Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn from Monday 15 to Saturday 20 March

By Jessica Clixby