Trainspotting (tour)

Cult fiction and great theatre can be difficult bedfellows. But in the case of Harry Gibson‘s adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel, which Gibson now directs on this national tour, they go exceedingly well together.

Ironically, the decade-old script makes better sense on this latest outing thanks to the hit film which has come between them. Without allowing the likes of Ewan McGregor to mar their performances, the strong cast let elements of the film infiltrate their narrative. The result is a production which is faithful to its source in words, ideas and, most importantly, in attitude.

This is not for the squeamish. The Leith vernacular is rife with swear words and the C-word is used more as punctuation than anything else. There’s plenty of injecting of heroin on stage, the odd bit of casual nudity and graphic – if often hugely hilarious – descriptions of the sexual conquests of the main protagonists.

It is the latter storytelling technique which makes the piece work as well as it does. It allows the natural laddishness of Mark Renton and his ne’r do well pals from Leith, Edinburgh, to shine through as their tall stories mount up. In terms of plot, it is more a series of vignettes of the life of a junkie than anything else… scoring heroin, waking up to find yourself covered in your own bodily fluids in a strange bed, your best friend dying of AIDS…

Peter Milne as Renton ensures that there is a sense of urgency about the whole play. He has a strong feeling for the rhythm of his character although he is guilty of trying too hard to force Renton off the page and onto the stage. It is a problem that also besets Ruaraidh Murray as Tommy and Brian Alexander as Begbie who underestimate the amount of subtlety they could afford to bring to their roles.

It is down to Laura Harvey as Alison and various other female roles to show the lads how to do it. She doesn’t quite catch the Edinburgh rhythm as well as Milne, but she works the audience much more effectively, allowing the natural pace of the script to come through rather than imposing her own pace upon it.

That said, this is excellent stuff which will entertain fans of both the book and film, while providing much to revolt those with a more genteel disposition.

– Thom Dibdin (reviewed at King’s Theatre, Edinburgh)