Trainspotting returns – as a musical

Trainspotting Musical to open UK tour at Playhouse

Choose a book. Choose a play. Choose a film. Choose an immersive Fringe show. Choose a… Musical? Yes. Choose a musical. Choose a UK tour. Choose the Edinburgh Playhouse. Choose Monday October 19, 2026.

Indeed, it is true. Trainspotting has got the musical treatment and Begbie, Kelly, Sick Boy, Spud and Renton are set to tour the UK, opening at the Edinburgh Playhouse on Monday 19 October 2026 with tickets on sale from this Wednesday 13 May.

Frankie O’Connor, Yana Harris, Sheridan Townsley, Kieran Andrew, Robbie Scott. Pic: Jaap Buitendijk.

Nor is this any sicko adaptation foisted on the gang of scuzzy junkies and ne’er-do-wells from Irvine Welsh’s 1993 novel. It has already been adapted for the theatre by Harry Gibson, in the 1994 play which opened at the Traverse, and for the big screen in in John Hodge’s screenplay for the 1996 movie directed by Danny Boyle that premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

This is Irvine Welsh adapting his own best-selling debut novel and co writing the new songs with Stephen McGuinness in a production that is being directed and developed by Caroline Jay Ranger. Of course, some of the defining tracks from the film will return, although this is no jukebox musical re-tread.

Announcing the new tour, Irvine Welsh said: “I believe the musical has a bigger, loudly beating human heart than either the book or the film. People need to think about the world we’re living in, and we offer that inspection, but they also need to sing their hearts out and laugh their heads off.

“It’s what being human is all about. We’ve put together an incredible Scottish cast and I can’t wait to see them bring the musical to life.”

Cast

That cast leads off with 26-year-old Scottish actor Robbie Scott taking on Renton. Scott was seen at the Lyceum in PFT’s 2023 production of Peter Arnott’s Group Portrait in a Summer Landscape. Yana Harris who was in Douglas Maxwell’s So Young at the Traverse in 2024, will play Kelly.

Sick Boy will be played by Sheridan Townsley; Spud by Kieran Andrew (seen in the Lyceum’s 2023 The Snow Queen); Begbie by Frankie O’Connor (who played the title role in Captivate Drama’s Brave Macbeth in 2014) and Tommy by Finlay Paul.

Rebecca McKinnis, who was in the 2023 UK tour of Wish you Were Dead will play Renton’s  mother, Cathy, and Gordon Cooper, seen in the 2016 tour of Stick Man, his father, Davie. Ashley J. Russell will be Colleen, Rosie Dignan will be Alison, and Sophie Hutchinson will be Lizzie.

The ensemble is made of Ally Kennard, Kieran Brown (Paravicini in 2023 tour of The Mousetrap), Melanie Marshall (the National Theatre’s 2017 tour of Jane Eyre), Lewis Kidd, Samuel Stewart, Finlay McKillop (Restless Natives, 2025), Ciara Ennis, Victoria Nicol, Kyra Fyvie, and Chris O’Mara.

The production premieres in the West End in London in July (tickets) ahead of the UK tour. In Scotland, following the Edinburgh dates it is going to Aberdeen His Majesty’s (Mon 11 – Sat 16 Jan 2027), Dunfermline Alhambra Theatre (Mon 1 – Sat 6 March 2027) Glasgow Theatre Royal (Mon 15 – Sat 20 March 2027) and returning to the Edinburgh Playhouse Mon 22 – Sat 27 March 2027.

Scottish Dates:

Edinburgh Playhouse, 18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA.
Mon 19 – Sat 24 Oct 2026
Mon – Sat: 7.30pm; Wed, Sat mats: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

His Majesty’s Aberdeen, Rosemount Viaduct, Aberdeen AB25 1GL
Mon 11 – Sat 16 Jan 2027
Mon – Sat: 7.30pm; Wed, Sat mats: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

Alhambra Theatre, 33-35 Canmore St, Dunfermline KY12 7NX
Mon 1 – Sat 6 March 2027
Mon – Sat: 7.30pm; Wed, Sat mats: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

Glasgow Theatre Royal, 282 Hope Street, Glasgow G2 3QA
Mon 15 – Sat 20 March 2027.
Mon – Sat: 7.30pm; Wed, Sat mats: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.

Edinburgh Playhouse, 18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA.
Mon 22 – Sat 27 March 2027.
Mon – Sat: 7.30pm; Wed, Sat mats: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Booking not yet open.

ENDS

Tags: Ally Kennard, Ashley J. Russell, Caroline Jay Ranger, Chris O'Mara, Ciara Ennis, Finlay McKillop, Finlay Paul, Frankie O'Connor, Gordon Cooper, Irvine Welsh, Kieran Andrew, Kieran Brown, Kyra Fyvie, Lewis Kidd, Melanie Marshall, Musicals, News, Playhouse, Production News, Rebecca McKinnis, Robbie Scott, Rosie Dignan, Samuel Stewart, Sheridan Townsley, Sophie Hutchinson, Stephen McGuinness, Trainspotting, Trainspotting The Musical, Victoria Nicol, Yana Harris