Choose life: Trainspotting Live is here to trip you out
Adaptations can be very tricky territory, especially when the original source material is culturally iconic. Too many times our favourite books have been chewed up and spit out by bigwig producers, barely recognisable in their new form as films and plays – Trainspotting Live is not one of these instances. Based on Irvine Welsh’s era-defining novel about a band of drug-fuelled Scottish miscreants, this production comes to the Brisbane Powerhouse from April 19–22 along with a solid seal of approval from the author himself.
For those unfamiliar, let us fill you in – Trainspotting Live is an award-winning production of the original Trainspotting phenomenon. Irvine’s wildly controversial prose, which was eventually adapted for the screen by Danny Boyle and John Hodge, follows the lives of a group of heroin addicts in an economically depressed area of Scotland’s Edinburgh. In Your Face Theatre has taken on the challenge of bringing the story to the stage, and succeeded with flying colours. The production is truly immersive, opening with a 15-minute rave scene (audience participation encouraged) and signposted with moments designed to shock.
There are several things about Trainspotting Live that make it hard to resist. First of all, the gang from In Your Face is actually Scottish so you don’t have to deal with any cringe-worthy accent attempts. Secondly, the cast is an extremely talented bunch that has brought to life the characters that so many know and love. Considering the utterly bleak subject matter, Trainspotting Live still manages to intersperse laugh-out-loud moments in amongst the grim realities of drug addiction. This is one cautionary tale we can get behind.
If you’re not afraid to get a bit freaky, you can grab tickets to Trainspotting Live through Brisbane Powerhouse. Psst, a word of advice? Watch out for the toilet scene …
To find out more about what’s on in Brisbane, head to our Event Guide.
