Thirty years on from the film that changed everything, and following its world premiere in London’s West End, Trainspotting The Musical will embark on a major UK tour opening at the Edinburgh Playhouse on 19 October. Written by Irvine Welsh (adapted from his best-selling debut novel) and directed and developed by Caroline Jay Ranger.
In 1996 the “breakthrough British film” (The Guardian) Trainspotting was released and became the biggest grossing UK film of the year taking over $76 million worldwide and won a slew of awards including a BAFTA for Best Screenplay. In 1999 it was ranked 10th in the British Film Institute’s ‘Top 100 Greatest British Films of the 20th Century’. Now, three decades later, the industrial drug crazed working-class heroes of British youth culture are back, live on stage: Renton, Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud, Tommy and Kelly. Renton (played in the film by Ewan McGregor) will be played on stage by 26-year-old Scottish actor Robbie Scott. He will be joined by fellow Scots actors Sheridan Townsley as Sick Boy, Kieran Andrew as Spud, Frankie O’Connor as Begbie, Finlay Paul as Tommy, Rebecca McKinnis as Cathy Renton, Gordon Cooper as Davie Renton, Ashley J. Russell as Colleen, Rosie Dignan as Alison, Yana Harris as Kelly, and Sophie Hutchinson as Lizzie. The ensemble comprises Ally Kennard, Kieran Brown, Melanie Marshall, Lewis Kidd, Samuel Stewart, Finlay McKillop, Ciara Ennis, Victoria Nicol, Kyra Fyvie, and Chris O’Mara.
Irvine Welsh said: “I believe the musical has a bigger, loudly beating human heart than either the book or the film. People need to think about the world we’re living in, and we offer that inspection, but they also need to sing their hearts out and laugh their heads off. It’s what being human is all about. We’ve put together an incredible Scottish cast and I can’t wait to see them bring the musical to life.”
In 1996, CHOOSE LIFE sounded like a challenge. Now the landscape has shifted, but the hunger hasn’t. Addiction hasn’t disappeared – it’s shifted. It’s quieter now, more embedded. Less needle, more screen. Less escape, more repetition. The modern addiction to mobile phones, faces stuck to screens, the same restless search for something to fill the space.
Trainspotting The Musical highlights the world we see changing around us, the obscene concentration of wealth, economic and political power in the hands of so few people. It addresses the modern culture of powerlessness.
This isn’t nostalgia, it’s closer than that. The past isn’t revisited – it lingers. The musical doesn’t tidy it. It sits with it. Listens to it. And lets it sing. New songs (with music and lyrics by Stephen McGuinness and Irvine Welsh) in addition to some of the electrifying tracks from the original film that defined a generation.
Radical, invigorating and life-affirming, this provocative, unforgettable experience will have even the most sceptical leave on a consciousness-altering high.
Trainspotting is not just a show. It’s a moment. It’s a manifesto. It’s who we are.
CHOOSE LIFE.
23-28 November 2026 – Regent Theatre Ipswich. On Sale 11 May
1-6 February 2027 Cliffs Pavilion Southend. On sale 15 May
Photo Credit – Jaap-Buitendijk
