Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting to Make West End Debut as a Musical

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Irvine Welsh's 1993 novel Trainspotting is being adapted into a musical, set to open at London's Theatre Royal Haymarket in July. The musical will feature original songs, as well as tracks from the film's soundtrack.

Irvine Welsh's cult classic novel Trainspotting is to be reimagined as a musical, with its West End debut scheduled for July at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London. The musical adaptation, also titled Trainspotting, will be a collaboration between Welsh and composer Stephen McGuinness.

Welsh's 1993 debut novel has already been adapted into a film and a play, and has spawned several sequels and soundtrack albums. The musical will feature a mix of original songs and tracks from Danny Boyle's 1996 film adaptation, including Iggy Pop's 'Lust for Life'.

“It wasn’t the most obvious book to be successful,” Welsh noted. “And it wasn’t the most obvious movie or stage play to be successful. It’s confounded expectations – especially my own.”

The story follows four friends struggling with addiction and crime in Edinburgh. Welsh cited musicals like West Side Story, Oliver! and Rent as examples of successful adaptations of complex, serious material.

The musical will include a couple of new characters and contextual material from Welsh's 2012 prequel, Skagboys. Robbie Scott, 26, will play the lead role of Mark Renton, marking his West End debut.

“It’s got real sass and vigour in the way the actors spark off against each other,” Welsh said. “I’m really looking forward to an audience seeing it.”