Trainspotting Live
★★★★★ Immersive Excellence
Pleasance at EICC (Venue 150): Thur 6 – Sun 30 Aug 2026
Review by Ed Boulter-Comer
The noise coming out of London currently would have us believe that Trainspotting has run its course, with the cancellation of the new musical based on Irvine Welsh’s original novel.
The cast of Trainspotting Live at Pleasance at EICC are having none of it.
From the moment they herd the audience into the booming nightclub of a set, this is a company which is in total control. Control of who sits where, of who finishes their drink, of the narrative and, ultimately, control of the audience’s emotions.
Craig McDougall (Sick Boy). Pic: Rod Penn.
This is a highly-polished, deeply effective immersive theatre from producers James Seabright, King’s Head Theatre and the originators, In Your Face Theatre, as it takes on Welsh’s tales of heroin use in the Scottish capital.
Clancy Flynn’s lighting design for the traverse space is far sharper than any Edinburgh 90s nightclub and unites with Tom Lishman’s initially nostalgic and always intelligent soundscapes. They hype the audience, priming them for the roller-coaster the cast have in store.
The craftsmanship of the directorial team of Adam Spreadbury-Maher with Greg Esplin and Ben Anderson is on display everywhere. The confidence to have cast boldly ad-libbing with audience members when not directly involved in scenes adds chaos to the Leith they create.
hammer blows
Directorial choices are intended to shock every bit as much as a 1am Fringe cabaret. With huge, claustrophobic set pieces, they paint with every colour available to them. A pantomime approach to audience participation reels people in. The hits, when they come, then land not so much as emotional punches but as hammer blows.
Greg Esplin (Tommy) and Andrew Barrett (Renton). Pic: Rod Penn.
Andrew Barrett’s Renton is both ringmaster and puppet, toying with his audience, as he horrifies and charms in equal measure. His child-like glee at the more scatological moments of Harry Gibson’s script is shameless and emphatically energetic. It is easy to see why the production calls on the skills of Jenni Green as intimacy coordinator. When Renton is less in control, Barrett’s prowess shines. The twisted, keening physicality he brings when Renton is making the worst of decisions is simply haunting.
Craig McDougall makes his Sick Boy effortlessly attractive and utterly repellent. He persistently flirts, fooling both characters and audience into desiring of one of his winks. The easy shallowness is displaced by his howls at the close of the play and McDougall is easily a match for the enormity of that moment.
an actor of depth and courage
Alexandra Hill (understudy for Alice Glass) plays June and Allison – and delivers an additional panoply of women of Edinburgh from doughty matriarchs to tenement brats. Her June is fierce and bristles with anger over her pregnancy bump but the hollow despair of her Allison marks her out as an actor of depth and courage.
Understudying for Olivier Sublet, Benjamin Keachie’s take on the dealer Mother Superior is excellently camp and unnerving. His Begbie is angular, brittle and unpredictable: the audience quietly retreats in his presence. Both actors weave themselves seamlessly into the play.
Alexandra Hill. Pic: Rod Penn.
Greg Esplin’s Tommy is the heart of the piece, producing a bouncy, loveable bear-hug of a performance at the beginning. It makes his fall at the end of the play almost incomprehensible. The relentless physicality, thumping sound and pulsing light of that moment does justice to the enormity of it. It’s not just another death in Leith.
There’s nudity, violence, all the expected language and the audience are reminded several times to go to the loo beforehand, as re-admittance is not allowed. Why anyone would want to leave that room early, though, is a mystery.
Whatever they might be saying in London, in Edinburgh, Trainspotting is very much alive.
Running time: One hour and 15 minutes (no interval).
Pleasance at EICC (Cromdale Tunnel), 150 Morrison St, EH3 8EE (Venue 150).
Thursday 6 – Sunday 30 August 2026.
Mon – Sat (not 12, 19, 24): 6.30pm & 8.45pm. Sun: 5pm & 7.15pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Trainspotting Live website: www.trainspottinglive.com
Facebook: @TrainspotLive
Instagram: @trainspotlive
Benjamin Keachie. Pic: Rod Penn.
Olivier Sublet (Begbie) with Andrew Barrett (Renton) and Greg Esplin (Tommy). Pic: Rod Penn.
ENDS
