Trainspotting The Musical is currently being staged at the Theatre Royal Haymarket until 5th September 2026. It was due to tour but owing to poor ticket sales, which was no doubt brought about by the reviews, it is closing in September and sadly, that will probably be the last that anyone sees of it. Apparently, the Edinburgh ticket sales were very low, which strikes me as unbelievably tragic as Trainspotting The Musical is set in Leith. I could offer the opinion that perhaps the production should have started there but I guess, it's always down to venue availability and I imagine that the production team hoped that London sales would help to pay for the touring.
When I went to see Trainspotting The Musical, the author, Irvine Welsh was in the audience. During the interval, various members of the audience offered congratulatory messages to the author. At its essence, the production is very faithful to my memories of the novel, which I read in the nineties. The musical follows the trajectory of the novel, incorporating both well known songs such as "Lust For Life" and "Perfect Day" performed by the cast and also new songs written by Irvine Welsh and Stephen McGuinness and others. These songs embrace both the emotional moods of the characters and their environment. A number of scenes are set in the local pub and what struck me most about this production was the sense of community that exists between the disparate characters even when things hit rock bottom.
I was genuinely moved at various points during the production, particularly when the tonal mood changes in the second half. The death of the child is handled with a neutral gentleness and the subsequent scene in the pub where various characters are collecting money to support the family of the bereaved to pay for the funeral etc touched me and reaffirmed how despite the horrors the characters are facing, they can still support each other.
The acting was superb throughout and if you want to see a musical that is even more subversive than the novel and the film, this is it. The subtext that governmental policy has effectively damaged the community and could even be partially responsible for the drug addiction of the characters who are striving to escape the lack of work and the deaths of so many major industries. Drugs are never glorified in this production.
I come back to a point I made earlier, why has this production been so vilified by the critics? Did they expect the film? Were they unaware that the author, Irvine Welsh has lived with these characters for many years and that he knows them? The many novels that have either featured or mentioned these characters are many. They live and breathe regardless of the context they are placed in. This musical has a vibrancy and emotional honesty that deserves to be seen.
Pride at the National Theatre is another production that has flourished from the very successful film, which was written by Stephen Beresford and directed by Matthew Warchus (he is also responsible for helping to develop this musical). This was in turn based upon real life events in the 80s. Most notably, the development of the group, LGSM (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners) in response to the Miners' Strike. Prior to the start of this musical production, a series of photographs are back projected and what interested me was how a number of the audience failed to identify cultural figures such as Kenny Everett. The other photographs included key figures associated with the Miner's Strike such as Arthur Scargill and Margaret Thatcher.
As a musical, Pride uses a number of songs, many of which are original compositions by members of the company. The production like Trainspotting The Musical focuses on the importance of unity and community. As the musical continues, the miners and their families/friends gradually become closer and closer to the gay community. Indeed, an important message that is reiterated by the production is not only the importance of tolerance but also more significantly, the need to experience things that may be out of an individual's comfort zone. Later in the musical, a group of the miners' wives and their friends take a tour of the London club scene and are introduced to a number of sexual practices that they observe with humour and most crucially, non-judgmentally.
Both Trainspotting The Musical and Pride touch on HIV and its effects. The latter has an evocative and empowering scene where a character who is dying from the virus and its effects makes the conscious decision to live every remaining moment with passion, vibrancy and love. This scene is beautifully encapsulated by the character at the start of the second half and begins with a feeling of pathos and ends up as a cabaret number.
Pride works as both an overview of the 80s, the gay community and homophobic attitudes. Like Trainspotting The Musical, it also flags up how unwanted government policies helped to destroy communities (the Miners' strike ended up achieving nothing as the mines were subsequently closed and the miners and their union were portrayed as violent militants at times during the strike despite footage of police brutality) and also helped to demonise the gay community through the heavy handed and ill conceived AIDS campaign. People are naturally social animals, so to suggest that one group were responsible for the spreading of the virus, the so called 'Gay Plague' (as it was horrifically coined by the media in some quarters), was detrimental to the development of relationships between social groups. The LGSM were the perfect example of a group that proved the point that people are people with their own unique characteristics and should be accepted as such.
My concluding point about both shows is the same point I would raise about any shows that are trying to embrace and reiterate a social message. These musicals deserve to be seen because they have something to say. You may not like or entirely understand the epochs and ideologies expressed by the productions. They may not have happy endings but I left both productions feeling upbeat and thoughtful. To what extent has life changed for the inhabitants of small impoverished towns or villages? Are the younger people of today more or less politically active? Do communities still exist as they used to in the 80s and 90s? If you were to walk out your door now, would you feel safe and happy or scared for your life? These are rhetorical questions but I do believe that knowing your neighbours can break down the barriers of fear and the unknown.
Pride has sold out the rest of its run but Trainspotting The Musical still has tickets left, so go and see it and see what you think. Ignore the critics and experience it your way, choose freedom of thought.
Barry Watt - 15th August 2026.
Afterword.
Trainspotting The Musical is on at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London until 5th September 2026:
Pride is on at the National Theatre, London until 12th September 2026 and although, it has sold out, tickets can occasionally become available (please see their website):
"Lust For Life" was written by Iggy Pop and co-written by David Bowie.
"Perfect Day' was written by Lou Reed.
Irvine Welsh is a very accomplished writer and I recommend any number of his novels. The film version of his novel, Trainspotting is also worth seeing, although I fear that the public's love of the film has had a somewhat detrimental effect on the success of the musical.
The film Pride from 2014 is also an important and beautifully made production.
The other people I mention in the blog can be looked up and I particularly recommend exploring Kenny Everett and his work. He was a DJ and comedian:
Barry Watt - 15th August 2026.
Photos (Used without permission but used to illustrate my blog if they need to be removed, please let me know)
The banner poster outside the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
Partial shot of Trainspotting set.
Sign for Pride outside the National
Theatre.
Barry Watt - 15th August 2026.
