Trainspotting The Musical - Review

Theatre Royal Haymarket, London

****

Music & lyrics by Stephen McGuiness & Irvine Welsh

Directed and developed by Caroline Jay Ranger

The cast of Trainspotting The Musical

Mainlining straight back to the 90s, Trainspotting The Musical achieves that illusive high of transforming abject human misery into an evening of sharply crafted entertainment. Irvine Welsh whose 1993 book inspired the story’s iconic film, has penned the show and together with Stephen McGuinness has written a dozen or so new songs that fabulously fit this modern fable.

Focussing on the lives of five young men from Edinburgh, Welsh’s tale, much of it drawn from and inspired by his own experiences of 18 months as a heroin addict, delivers an evening of devastation as we witness the drug ripping through their lives.

Lewis Kidd plays the focal, narrative, Renton who tells of his world, his family and his friends. Onstage for almost the entire show, Kidd’s Renton breaks our hearts as he navigates the depths of his addiction. 

Alongside Kidd, Sheridan Townsley is the damaged Sick Boy and Kieran Andrew is Spud. Finlay Paul plays Tommy whose own decline leads to perhaps the show’s most harrowing moments. Completing this leading quintet is the brilliant Frankie O’Connor as the psychopathically menacing Begbie, vividly vicious yet also capable of moments of surprising compassion.

In support, Rebecca McKinnis and Gordon Cooper as Renton’s parents Cathy and Davie make fine work of their modest roles, their anguished pain witnessing their son slide into the opioid’s grip proving almost unbearable to watch.

Rosie Dignan’s Alison together with Ashley J. Russell’s Colleen deliver equally strong grief and anxiety-fuelled performances. 

Death’s tentacles sprawl through the evening and it is a remarkable credit to both the cast and the creatives that a story of such physical and emotional horror can at times prove to be as witty as it is tragic.

The music lifts the show - the classic songs from the movie’s soundtrack are retained with Lou Reed’s Perfect Day closing both halves. As the first act finishes on a moment of unbearable pain, the irony of the full company powerfully delivering Reed's classic makes for a bittersweet symphony of feelings.

The show’s original compositions are as brilliantly written as Welsh's original novel, highlights including the sardonically Country-themed The Eckies And The Brown and One Skin Too Few, both of which are deservedly reprised.

Caroline Jay Ranger has directed and developed the show, helming a production that is as much a poignant social commentary, as it is a historical take on how grim life can be for those who are either denied opportunity or who lack the ability and vision to strive for it. Ranger’s work is neatly  nuanced, complemented by Colin Richmond’s simply effective sets and Douglas O’Connell’s video projections, transforming the visuals from a row of impoverished city tenements through to the sensations of heroin coursing through Renton’s veins – with some impressive underwater photography that cleverly suggests the character’s escape into the Siren-like embrace of the narcotics. Stuart Morley's band are a blast throughout.

The staging is authentically Scots, with dialects to match and for all that the Scottish brogue is convincingly delivered, there will be moments for many unsophisticated southern ears that may prove unintelligible.

Make no mistake, this is brave and bold new writing. Brilliantly bleak.

Runs until 5th September, then on tour

Photo credit: Matt Crockett