⭐⭐ (Two Stars)

Thirty years on from Danny Boyle’s acclaimed 1996 film adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s 1993 novel, Trainspotting has been given the musical treatment and finds itself in London’s West End ahead of a UK tour. Trainspotting follows the lives and losses of a 1990s community in Edinburgh facing unemployment, poverty and heroin addiction. While this world premiere musical adaptation - written by Irvine Welsh and directed by Caroline Jay Ranger - makes several bold swings, unfortunately the enduring feeling is that this source material is better served in film format, especially when that film casts such a long shadow, even being voted the greatest Scottish film of all time.

The most significant barrier to Trainspotting The Musical’s success is the music itself. The show contains a curious combination of new songs (with music and lyrics by Stephen McGuinness and Irvine Welsh) alongside some songs featured in the 1996 film, and other songs from the 1990s that did not appear in the film. The pre-existing songs are by far the best in the production, with the first act beginning with Iggy Pop’s anthemic Lust For Life and ending with an emotionally impactful performance of Lou Reed’s Perfect Day, coming at a heart-breaking moment in the characters’ story. In contrast, the new songs for the most part consist of uninspired and repetitive lyrics, with a large proportion of these being swear words. There is one musical number in particular, titled The Eckies And The Brown, that feels distinctly out-of-place and bizarre within the show. It first comes immediately after we see Renton (Lewis Kidd) and Sick Boy (Sheridan Townsley) inject heroin and is later reprised as the Act Two opening number. A country song in which the lyrics “c*nts run the country” are repeated over and over by the cast (all dressed as cowboys), the song does not make sense within the show at all and yet is the only one of the newly written musical numbers to leave any impact as the others are so forgettable.

There’s also a confusing element to the musical as it seems unclear on whether its characters sing diegetically or not. At one point, Sick Boy joins Renton and Spud (Kieran Andrew) on stage and, when told by Spud, “Renton and I are singing a song” joins in with a bemused shrug, somehow knowing all the lyrics. This leaves the audience wondering if all the characters are aware that they are singing throughout the show or not.

The transitions from speaking scenes into songs have been directed by Ranger in a confusing manner, with the songs feeling jarring and disrupting the flow of scenes, rather than amplifying emotions. When Renton’s father Davie (Gordon Cooper) launches into the opening lyrics of Mad World (“All around me are familiar faces…”) mid-conversation and with no warning, it almost felt as though the show had become a parody of a musical. It also does not help that the uneven sound mix means singing becomes intermittently quiet at some times and characters have to speak over other characters singing at full, distracting volume at other times.

I watched the film shortly before seeing Trainspotting The Musical at the theatre and am very glad I did so, as I imagine anybody not already familiar with the story would find it difficult to follow based on the musical alone. This is particularly the case as so much of this material exists as a tapestry of several different characters’ stories rather than one singular plot. While most of the events from the film are also depicted on stage, they often don’t translate as effectively as they did when on screen. For example, the gag-inducing scene involving soiled bedsheets from the film has been reduced to a notably underwhelming moment in the stage show.

The set, designed by Colin Richmond, consists of a platform above the main stage, which is used sporadically, along with large LED screens both above the stage and as rotating flats. These LED screens are used to good effect at some moments, such as when Renton is forced by his parents to go cold turkey from heroin and experiences the walls of his childhood bedroom moving around him. However, as a whole, there is an over-reliance on screens where physical set pieces would be more effective.

With so many film-to-stage musical adaptations arriving in the West End in recent years, unfortunately Trainspotting The Musical proves one of the weaker productions. The musical fails to capture the gritty, harrowing story or the creative storytelling of Boyle’s 1996 movie. There’s an undoubtedly talented cast assembled for this production, however it’s a shame that they are not given the material or the opportunities to showcase their strengths here.

Trainspotting The Musical runs at Theatre Royal Haymarket until 5th September 2026 before embarking on a UK tour.

Tickets Available Here