Shakespeare Theatre Company announces the cast and creative team for Paranormal Activity: A New Story Live on Stage, an original story based on Paramount Pictures’ terrifying film franchise — now live on stage. This North American premiere from celebrated playwright Levi Holloway (Broadway’s Grey House) and Punchdrunk’s Felix Barrett (Sleep No More) features illusions by Tony Award winner Chris Fisher (Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child). The production will play a limited engagement in STC’s Harman Hall, January 28 through February 7.
James and Lou move from Chicago to London to escape the past…but they soon discover that places aren’t haunted, people are. Featuring performances by Cher Álvarez, Patrick Heusinger, Shannon Cochran, and Kate Fry, the North American premiere production debuts at Chicago Shakespeare Theater (October 8-November 7). It moves to Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles (November 13-December 7) before coming to STC in January, and finishes its run at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco (February 19-March 15).
Playwright Levi Holloway shared, “Writing Paranormal Activity for the stage, collaborating with Felix Barrett in London — working to create an actual nightmare — has been a dream. We strived to create something impossible, mixing the familiar with the uncanny, heart with horror. Audiences have a nose for honesty on stage and little patience for anything else. They’ll find it here, right alongside all the mischief we’ve made to trouble their sleep.”
Playing Lou and James, a couple trying to escape a sinister force, are Cher Álvarez and Patrick Heusinger. Álvarez has appeared regionally at such theaters as the Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, and Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, and appeared on television in shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and NCIS: Hawai’i. Heusinger, who originated the role in the Leeds Playhouse premiere, has been seen on Broadway in Next Fall and Fiddler on the Roof and starred as Lancelot in the national tour of Spamalot. He is also known for his work on the television shows Gossip Girl, Royal Pains, and Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce.
The cast also includes Shannon Cochran as James’ mother Carolanne and Kate Fry as Mrs. Cotgrave, a medium. Cochran’s many credits include Steppenwolf Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre Company, and Goodman Theatre, as well as the West Coast premiere of Broadway’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in San Francisco, and the national tours of Roundabout Theatre Company’s Cabaret and August: Osage County. This production marks a return to the horror genre for Cochran, as she appeared in the 2002 film The Ring. Fry has appeared off-Broadway at Lincoln Center, and regional credits include work at Center Theatre Group in LA, McCarter Theater Center, Goodman Theatre, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
Levi Holloway is an ensemble member of Chicago’s A Red Orchid Theatre company, which debuted his plays Grey House (prior to an acclaimed Broadway run) and Turret, starring Michael Shannon. He is the co-founder of the Neverbird Project, a youth-based deaf and hard of hearing theatre company, and specializes in working with deaf children and creating theatre for deaf people.
Felix Barrett is the founder and artistic director of Punchdrunk, conceiving and directing such groundbreaking theatrical productions as Sleep No More (a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth), The Burnt City, and Viola’s Room. Barrett directed last year’s critically acclaimed production of Paranormal Activity at Leeds Playhouse in the UK, which will open on the West End this winter.
The creative team for Paranormal Activity includes Fly Davis (Scenic & Costume Designer), Anna Watson (Lighting Designer), Gareth Fry (Sound Designer), Luke Halls (Video & Projections Designer), Chris Fisher (Illusions Designer), Bob Mason (Casting), Travis A. Knight (Assistant Director), Camille Etchart (UK Associate Scenic Designer), Abby May (US Associate Lighting Designer), Will Pickens (US Associate Sound Designer), Skylar Fox (Associate Illusions Designer), Daniel Weissglass (Assistant Illusions Designer), and Melanie J. Lisby (Production Stage Manager), Julie Jachym (Assistant Stage Manager).
Paranormal Activity runs January 28-February 7, 2026, in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Hall, 610 F St NW, Washington, DC 20004. Tickets start at $35. For more information, please visit ShakespeareTheatre.org or call the Box Office at 202.547.1122.
CAST
Cher Álvarez*, Lou
Shannon Cochran*, Carolanne
Kate Fry*, Mrs. Cotgrave
Patrick Heusinger*, James
CHER ALVAREZ*
Lou
STC: Debut. CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Debut. CHICAGO: Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Writers Theatre, Drury Lane. REGIONAL: Berkeley Repertory Theatre, American Players Theatre. TELEVISION: Sugar (Apple TV); Leverage: Redemption Amazon); NCIS Hawai’i (CBS); Chicago Med, Chicago PD (NBC); Station 1 (ABC); Shameless (Netflix). EDUCATION: BFA in musical theatre, Webster Conservatory of Dramatic Arts.
SHANNON COCHRAN*
Carolanne
STC: Debut. CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: CHICAGO: The Importance of Being Earnest, Dance of Death (Joseph Jefferson Award winner), Buried Child (Writers Theatre); The Christians (Steppenwolf Theatre); The Little Foxes, (Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre. OFF BROADWAY: Bug (Barrow Street Theatre, Obie Award winner). TOUR: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, August: Osage County, Cabaret. REGIONAL: Mark Taper Forum, Geffen Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Old Globe Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Cincinnati Playhouse. INTERNATIONAL: Bug (Gate Theatre); The Man Who Came to Dinner (Steppenwolf Theatre/Royal Shakespeare Company). FILM: Lullaby (October); The Twin, The Ring, Star Trek: Nemesis, Captive State. TELEVISION: Ballard, Scandal, The Office, Modern Family, Star Trek: DS9, The Next Generation. EDUCATION: Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. AWARDS: Obie Award, Theatre World Award, several Joseph Jefferson Awards. Cochran recently directed Fallen Angels at American Players Theatre.
KATE FRY*
Mrs. Cotgrave
STC: Debut. CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Henry V, As You Like It, Henry IV parts 1 and 2 (Royal Shakespeare Company), The Merchant of Venice, The Molière Comedies, The Taming of the Shrew, Love’s Labor’s Lost, The Two Gentlemen of Verona. CHICAGO: The Cherry Orchard, A Winter’s Tale, Ah Wilderness! (Goodman Theatre); Birthday Candles, Mother of the Maid, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Outside Mullingar (Northlight Theatre); Wife of a Salesman, Marjorie Prime, Hedda Gabler, Oh Coward! (Writers Theatre); Mousetrap, The Belle of Amherst, Electra, Caroline or Change (Court Theatre); In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play (Victory Gardens Theatre). OFF BROADWAY: A Minister’s Wife (Lincoln Center Theatre). REGIONAL: McCarter Theatre Center (Princeton, NJ); Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles); Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. TELEVISION: Chicago P.D. (NBC); Proven Innocent (Fox); Boss (STARZ). AWARDS: Joseph Jefferson Award, Sarah Siddons Award, Court Theatre’s Nicholas Rudall Award, Chicago Tribune actress of the year.
PATRICK HEUSINGER*
James
STC: Debut. CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Debut. INTERNATIONAL: Originated the role of James in Paranormal Activity (Leeds Playhouse). BROADWAY: Luke in Next Fall, Fiddler on the Roof. OFF BROADWAY: Luke in Next Fall. TOUR: Lancelot in Spamalot. REGIONAL: Max in Moises Kaufman’s Bent written by Martin Sherman (Mark Taper Forum); Luke in Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s Abigail/1702 (New York Stage and Film). FILM: Main villain in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back starring Tom Cruise (Paramount Pictures/Skydance); Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha, Ali Selim’s Sweet Land. TELEVISION: Absentia, Causal, Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce. Royal Pains, 30 Rock, Gossip Girl.
* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
CREATIVE TEAM
Levi Holloway
Felix Barrett
Fly Davis, Scenic & Costume Designer
Anna Watson, Lighting Designer
Gareth Fry, Sound Designer
Luke Halls, Video & Projections Designer
Chris Fisher, Illusions Designer
Bob Mason, Casting
Travis A. Knight, Assistant Director
Camille Etchart, UK Associate Scenic Designer
Abby May, US Associate Lighting Designer
Will Pickens, US Associate Sound Designer
Skylar Fox, Associate Illusions Designer
Daniel Weissglass, Assistant Illusions Designer
Melanie J. Lisby*, Production Stage Manager
Julie Jachym*, Assistant Stage Manager
ABOUT SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY
For nearly 40 years, the Tony Award-winning Shakespeare Theatre Company has been recognized as the nation’s premier classical theater. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Simon Godwin and Executive Director Angela Lee Gieras, STC tells vital stories in audacious forms, stories that are Shakespearean in the deepest sense, even if they are not written by Shakespeare. They stage epic stories in exhilarating style.
SEE ALSO:
Shakespeare Theatre Company adds ‘Paranormal Activity’ to 25/26 season (news story, May 2, 2025)
