30 years on from the film that changed everything comes "the ultimate anti-musical." 'Trainspotting', one of the most iconic British films of all time, is now getting the musical treatment...
Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a West End stage for a musical?
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Seems like it, as celebrated Scottish author Irvine Welsh has announced a new stage musical based on his best-selling 1993 book “Trainspotting”. It is scheduled to open in London in July.
His debut novel follows the lives of a group of heroin addicts in Edinburgh. It quickly achieved cult status and was adapted to the big screen by Danny Boyle three years after its release.
The film, starring Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller and Kelly Macdonald, also became a cult classic, due to its performances, its instantly iconic soundtrack, and a darkly comedic verve that has cemented it as one of the greatest British films of the 90s.
While “Trainspotting” has been adapted for the stage numerous times since the mid-90s, 2026 marks the first time that the novel has been turned into a musical.
Opening at the Theatre Royal Haymarket this summer, Welsh adapted the novel for the stage himself, as well as writing songs for the production alongside Stephen McGuinness. Tracks from Boyle’s Trainspotting are also intended to be used.
“It wasn’t the most obvious book to be successful,” Welsh told The Guardian. “And it wasn’t the most obvious movie or stage play to be successful. It’s confounded expectations – especially my own.”
However, Welsh added that he feels Trainspotting: The Musical – which has been described as "the ultimate anti-musical" - will offer something different.
“There are so many shows in the West End that are either stage plays with music perfunctorily thrown in or nostalgia pieces with unrelated music from the times” he said. “The only way I could see a Trainspotting musical work is if we could write our own songs that moved it along as a proper piece of musical theatre.”
Welsh also said: “This musical has a bigger, loudly beating human heart than either the book or the film. The various stage adaptations of ‘Trainspotting’ have become acclaimed and moving theatrical experiences and the soundtrack to the movie is obviously iconic. So it made sense to put the music and words together to create an explosive, provocative and entertaining show. People need to think about the world we’re living in, and we offer that inspection, but they also really need to sing their hearts out and laugh their heads off - it’s what being human is all about - and they’ll be well served with this too.”
The show, which will be developed and directed by Caroline Jay Ranger, will star 26-year-old Scottish actor Robbie Scott as Mark Renton – the role previously played on screen by Ewan McGregor. Further casting will be announced soon.
Trainspotting: The Musical will open at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on 15 July 2026. Tickets are available here.
In the meantime, is anyone else wondering how in the name of Mother Superior (they called him that on account of the length of his habit) the show will stage that Worst Toilet in Scotland scene?
