Choose life… But why would I want to do a thing like that?”
Acclaimed writer Irvine Welsh has announced his latest project. A stage musical. An adaptation of his cult-classic novel Trainspotting. The seven section book tells the story of a group of friends from Edinburgh, following their hazardous lives with heroin addiction. Originally published in 1993, Welsh claims to have sold over one million copies by 2015 in the UK alone. And of course, the novel was made into the cult-classic film of the same name in 1996.
The story has been previously made into a live experience but only now is being shaped into a musical. It will be a collaborative project between Welsh, songwriter Steve McGuinness and producer Phil McIntyre. Involving a variety of genres including techno, disco and urban house over 14 new songs will be developed for the upcoming live performance.
With the song and script complete, the project focus is now on casting, choreography and set design. Welsh stated, “We’re looking at doing it about a year from now at the earliest, but I think we’ll probably try to go straight into the West End. That’s the ambition for it.”
Alongside the release of the musical, there is reportedly a Trainspotting TV series spin-off in the works. The series will have an adaption of Welsh’s 2016 novel The Blade Artist which continues a story told within his Trainspotting and Porno novels. Actor Robert Carlyle confirms that this project is still in the early stages of development.
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