Event Review: Last Orders, The Haunting of The Old Red Lion

“They say the place is haunted. Very Haunted. So we decided to see for our selves”

Researched, devised and performed by Knock Knock Club members Caroline Buckley, Reece Connolly, and Christopher Keegan. Last Orders discovers what is lurking within the dark corners of each it’s three floors; the trio guides the audience through the immersive history of the 604-year-old Islington pub, The Old Red Lion.

“Since 1415 The Old Red Lion has welcomed countless visitors through its doors. Some never left.”

The dramatisation of the pubs’ history, alongside interviews from staff members past and present, curate an ungodly rendition of paranormal events that have continued to happen throughout the years including documentation of what happened to the Knock Knock members in the months leading up to this very night. From June 2019 they embarked on a journey into the very dark depths of the pub’s unsettling history; combining archival research and of course first-hand experiences with the paranormal. Throughout October (till the 26th) you are invited to experience what the creators describe to be a docu-play, a terrifying, immersive experience held within the very walls that have seen much more than just “excitable gossip” and drunken brawls.

“So we stayed overnight on our cameras pointed, our microphones into the dark and asked who’s there..?”

A refreshing take on the Ghost Adventures, Most Haunted formula; but avoiding the usual smarmy approach that we have become accustomed to when viewing, or participating in these events, Knock Knock Club only offers good British humour served over a cold pint. This 70-minute play was actually very scary, the prologue avoided undercutting the horror with humour that was very common in the following acts. The use of lighting or what can better be described as the lack of lighting exposed you to one historic rendition of the pub’s past run-ins with not so nice spirits. You lose yourself in the history of the place, it becomes real when the following acts present their findings from each floor above you separated nicely into three acts.

“In ‘Last Orders’ we present our findings – from the uncanny to the unnatural to the unexplainable – as more than 600 years of history clamours to be heard”

The play takes place within the black box theatre located above the bar, it’s almost claustrophobic accompanied by the complete darkness when they want to raise the audiences heart rate. Executed tremendously. The atmospheric, immersive and damn right terrifying play prevails as a must-see for this Halloween season; you can even take the kids on a Saturday afternoon but it’s definitely not for the faint-hearted although it is very, very fun.