Paranormal Activity
Paranormal Activity at Toni Rembe Theater
Toni Rembe Theater is shaping up to be my favorite place despite being an hour drive away. This time we got invited to see Paranormal Activity by a friend. I was intrigued since I watched the movie and wondered how they would adapt it, but it turned out vastly superior to the movie! It is about a couple, Lou and James, who are haunted by a ghost.
They follow typical horror movie procesure where they discover something is wrong, find a specialist (who happens to give them hints on what they should do), before racing towards the climax uncertain whether they will resolve the issue, or die. I thought it is more similar to The Conjuring (2013 horror movie) than Paranormal Activity, since the latter is more of a found footage movie and the play was more of a ghost haunting story. It is also tied to more modern horror movies where the character also deal with personal issues on top of freaky things happening to them, in this case (lack of) grief.
...What I must highlight is the incredible set. They put a two story apartment on the stage and the actors would naturally move between the first and second floor. As a horror story I was absolutely blown away by the jump scares and very creative practical effects. It was almost like a magic show and they knew how to focus our attention to one part, increase anxiety and reveal the twist.
Paranormal Activity was definitely the most imaginative and modern play I have seen. It was engaging, funny and then also terrifying. Something about it happening to live actors in front of you makes you really invested and more scared than a watching a movie in the cinema.
Two things that stood up: They often did cuts like in a movie, where the curtain drops down and the scene changes. It felt a bit too much like a movie cut (which, ironically, is the opposite of Paranormal Activity movie, which had long sequences of nothing happening). I really liked moments where actors are alone, reacting to the (again, incredible) environment. I am so used to theatre being mainly about dialog, watching scared woman going through flickering building trying to find the source by herself to be a very unique experience.
Probably my favorite cultural event of 2026, would recommend!