Trainspotting – Smock Alley – Review by Stephen McDermott

Choose life. Choose a job. Choose art. Choose the theatre. Choose an adaptation. Choose something iconic. Choose a cult classic.

Choose to make your work as difficult as possible. Choose plenty of characters and a small cast. Choose Scottish accents and a sparse set. Choose loud music and complex lighting. Choose an intimate venue in which to do it all.

If there’s one thing director Tracy Ryan doesn’t choose in this adaptation of Trainspotting, it’s the easy way out. This choice of production is admirable in and of itself. How exactly do you follow a film ranked 10th in the British Film Institute’s ‘100 Best British Films of All Time’ list?

The answer, as protagonist Mark Renton would tell you, is by striking out and doing something different: choosing not to choose convention. In this case, Ryan creates a fresh take on the classic narrative by taking Irvine Welsh’s novel as her source material, wilfully ignoring the more obvious option of drawing upon the film for any kind of inspiration.

Given that it too provided the source material for the film, drawing upon the novel might have seemed an easy enough choice. That is until one considers that not only is it written entirely in a thick Edinburgh brogue, but that each chapter is also told from the point of view of one of its many different characters.

Ryan and her cast are well-equipped for the challenge, however, tearing through the work in a 90-minute salvo of brilliantly choreographed physical theatre and supreme lighting design from Brian Murray.

Though they’re only credited as Renton (Shane O’Regan), Tommy (Lorcan Strain), Alison (Meg Healy) and Begbie (Fionn Foley), the performers slip in and out of playing numerous characters with so much ease that you wonder if there was only four of them to begin with.

Indeed, it’s hard to pick a standout performer. O’Regan plays such a convincing lead, that at one early point he actually appears to be someone who has accidentally stumbled into the wrong building. Similarly, Stain and Foley are so strong in supporting roles that it feels unfair to label them as such, while Healy’s underuse is one of the few criticisms that can be made of the production.

Without much of a set to work with, these performers work hard to get the most from their source material. There’s an added sense of Greek tragedy about them too, with individuals are pitted against modern societal forces such as friends, families, national identities, careers, and religious beliefs.

It’s difficult to choose one thing above all else that makes this production great, but it’s probably worth €15 to see such impressive acting alone. More than that though, it’s a well-worked take on a classic story that stays loyal to Welsh’s original novel.

If you choose to see one thing this week, choose Trainspotting.

Reality:Check Productions presents Trainspotting
By Irvine Welsh, adapted for stage by Henry Gibson
Directed by Tracy Ryan

CAST
Shane O’Regan / RENTON
Lorcan Strain / TOMMY
Meg Healy / ALISON
Fionn Foley / BEGBIE

DATES / TIMES
February 1st – 13th 2016
7.30PM
Smock Alley Theatre, The Boys School