Writer Emilia Teglia’s new play #Haters is inspired by a real life stabbing in Hackney, which took place in the summer of 2014.

A man walked into a pub calling for help as he had a knife wound, but while he was waiting for the ambulance to arrive, someone took a picture of the man’s blood and tweeted a picture of it with the hashtag “Welcome To Hackney”.

This sparked a social media storm that the tabloids picked up on and made many people feel divided over how east London was being represented.

Emilia, who has lived in Hackney for 18 years ago after moving over from Italy, was intrigued by the media response to this incident, especially as she has seen a lot of knife and gun crime in her town and felt issues such as urban regeneration in the area were causing friction between people, as the new buildings and people do not fit with the traditional ethos.

As the founder of Odd Eyes Theatre Company, which gives a voice to those who feel under-represented or marginalised in society, the 40-year-old began to look at how social media is influencing today’s society and developed her story through that.

As we walked into the theatre, we were surprised to see there were only a few rows of chairs set out in front of a small stage. Our intrigue grew when we saw three girls walk onto the stage and start humming different beats in a chorus and throughout the play, they provided the social media commentary like a Greek chorus.

The story was told though two half hour monologues that were performed by a Hipster (Greg Snowden), who was new to the area and didn’t realise fit in yet, as well as the man who got stabbed (Josh Okusanya), who resembled all the stereotypical aspects of a person involved in gang culture in east London.

Their dialogues showed different perspectives on the same story, but rather than focus on the stabbing too much, there was instead an emphasis on the social media elements and how what we see online necessarily isn’t a true reflection of reality.

There was also a great deal of focus on gentrification in London and how buildings are being modernised and rebuilt so much that people who have lived in the areas for many years now do not recognise the place they call home anymore.

#Haters didn’t provide any new ground-breaking information about society in east London and also didn’t offer a solution to issues of gun and knife crime, however, it did deliver an interesting commentary on how people in London struggle to keep up with the ever-changing face of the city.

Star-rating: ****

Redbridge Drama Centre, Churchfields, South Woodford, E18 2RB, February 22, 8pm. Details: 020 8708 8800, redbridgedramacentre.co.uk