Adapter: Harry Gibson
Director: Adam Spreadbury-Maher
A staple of the Edinburgh Fringe, selling out for 5 years running, Trainspotting Live has raved its way to London, bringing its adaptation of the Irvine Welsh’s book-turned-movie from the 90s. Following Renton’s quest to become clean from heroin addiction it’s a very serious storyline, but with realms of dark humour and light-hearted slapstick weaved in throughout.
This show isn’t for the faint hearted, it’s loud, chaotic, messy and grotesque. Expect to get splashed repeatedly with toilet water, dragged up for a dance or have a shit-stained rag thrown at you at any given time. The constant engagement outside of the storyline uncomfortably adds to the chaos, keeping everyone on edge, with each of the actors merging into the audience during various scenes, briefly interacting with faux-drug addled conversations. At points there’s so much going on in the audience that it starts to detract you from the main action on the stage, but it does help to immerse everyone even further into the darkly extreme underbelly of the narrative.
The gritty subject matter of drug addiction is executed well, and similar to both the book and movie, manages to shock, sadden and entertain, while showcasing the high and low points. Running at only 75 minutes, it crams in all of the key scenes and plot points that you’d expect (although surprisingly no feature from Spud). Occasionally, it does come across a bit too rushed, not allowing the full impact of a dramatic moment to land before whizzing on to the next scene. Beginning the show with a rave automatically sets the atmosphere, and staging the show in the middle of two-sided seating is another way the audience are subconsciously submerged into the show itself. Clancy Flynn’s lighting design is outstanding, creating the intensity in lieu of a busy or elaborate set design.
Andrew Barrett playing main character Renton is fabulous. Loud and confident, he takes the full-frontal nudity scenes in his stride, bravely baring all at various points in the show, embracing the shock factor synonymous with Trainspotting such as the memorable soiled bed scene. Begbie is impeccably recreated by Olivier Sublet – aggressive and cocky, he heightens the tension in each of his scenes, while still adding the darkly comedic humour that you would expect to still shine through. Lauren Downie is also wonderful – her devastation during a bout of domestic violence is harrowingly heartbreaking, while her comedic seduction scene is hilarious. Greg Esplin (Tommy) and Michael Lockerbie (Sick Boy) capture emotion brilliantly, the gentle yet impactful downfalls of their characters exemplified by their on stage dedication.
The energy from the entire cast is non-stop, it’s a physically gruelling play about a mentally challenging subject – yet they never falter. They dilute the intensity with comedy, and juxtapose the humour with severity, constantly forcing the audience into a state of flux. Choose life, choose theatre – choose Trainspotting Live.
Runs until 6 November 2022
