I arrived at the Bethnal Green Mansion expecting this to be
our starting point for a ghost hunting walk around the East End of London. A
place with a long history of dark and murderous activity. Little did I know
that this performance would be far from that. What followed was nothing that I
had foreseen. The Mansion had been abandoned amidst mysterious circumstances in
the 1970s and taken on by Tower Hamlets Council. But fortunately, in the year
2022 there was a makeshift bar selling a minimalist selection of beverages.
We made our way to an empty room where we were to be briefed
and warned about what may follow and experience. It was all very atmospheric
and anticipatory - setting the scene. Then into the room, with our
pre-practised roar of applause, arrived Harriet and Jimmy (YouTube sensations).
They were to be our hosts for the evening and they were filming their 100th episode of the YouTube ghost hunting series. Harriet (Alice Merivale) and Jimmy
(Ciaran John) were joined by Cara (Milla Harding), the cameraperson and Harriet’s
love interest, and Gwyn (Christopher Blackmore), some kind of weird pseudo fan.
What we didn’t expect was to find that we were embroiled in some kind of
unprofessional relationship with a lot of power struggles and emotional outpourings.
All this running alongside the ghost hunting experience.
The four leaders all wearing bottles of holy water around
their neck was a warning of what we might encounter during the walkabout tour.
The audience were immersed in the experience, and given tasks; I was lucky
enough to have been taken into the technology team and given a camera. I then
spent most of the evening taking photographs of paranormal ‘evidence’. One
group was given historical knowledge and one group given ghost hunting
information. We were ready for action. We had been fired up and ready to
investigate. Down into the gloomy basement we went – an area of the house
sealed off for four decades. Fortunately, others in our techy team had been
given torches and UV lights, so it wasn’t completely dark inside.
We were looking for clues and information. Engaged in different group activities, I kept expecting something scary to jump out. By this point I was beginning to wish things would speed up and that something would happen. I was nervous throughout the evening as I thought it would be something like a ghost train at the funfair. What I hadn’t realised at the beginning of the evening was that the whole thing was a fully immersive performance and that our four actors were playing for laughs! 'Follow Me' was a funny experience for everyone involved and there was no opting out – if you were at the performance you had to join in. But I did find it overly long and waiting for the final crescendo seemed a long time in coming. No plot spoilers here, but needless to say the holy water was a key thing, after all. I thought it was deliberately acted like a rehearsal for a school play – with very immature and adolescent egos – definitely aimed at the majority of the young and hipster audience (this was the cool part of London’s East End, after all), I was probably a bit old and long in the tooth for it. But an enjoyable and very different evening was had by all and it ended back in the bar!
Be aware
that there are adult themes, language and scary events when booking tickets.
Reviewer - Penny Curran
on - 25.2.22
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