Trainspotting musical to debut summer 2024

Scottish author Irvine Welsh has revealed that the musical adaptation of his hit novel Trainspotting will debut mid 2024, alongside a host of other projects on his calendar.

In an appearance at the Pride of Scotland Awards, he said “I’ve just finished doing Crime, season 2. I’ve been filming Vigil since March, I’ll finish that in July, then at the end of July I have a wee break, then I’m going to do a couple of movies, kind of back to back.”

He confirmed his second collaboration with authors John King and Alan Warner would be out in August and the second season of his show, Crime, would be out in September. Actor Dougray Scott stars as detective Ray Lennox. The show’s first season launched in 2021.

Trainspotting began as a novel first published in 1993 and was adapted for stage by Harry Gibson, touring the UK in the mid '90s.

A 75 minute "immersive live experience" directed by Adam Spreadbury Maher toured internationally including stop at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin in 2018. It continues to play annually at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.

The film adaptation in 1996, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Ewan McGregor, scored 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Critic C. H. Newell even made a comparison in his review to the famous poet Dante, describing the film, "Like a 20th-century magical realist version of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy narrated by a lad from Edinburgh hooked on skag."