For all that the characters of Trainspotting lurked on the perilous fringes, they were at least young enough for the slogan “choose life” to be an option. In Irvine Welsh’s 2002 sequel, Renton, Sickboy, Begbie and Spud return 15 years older and it is with a sense of alarm to find them still standing. Only Tommy is absent, his Aids-related death having brought a bitter realism to the original novel.
And what a rough lot they are in Davie Carswell’s adaptation directed by Felix O’Brien. Chris Gavin’s Begbie, finishing the end of a spell in Saughton for manslaughter, is now furious as well as unforgiving. Kevin Murphy’s Spud, bald and bearded, has added an edge of despair to his puppyish charm; his entrance begging for money is chillingly believable.
Simon Weir’s Sick Boy, with a bleach-blond crop and dazzling teeth, looks less healthy than creepily suave. And Scott Kyle’s Renton, back with plans to make good the cash he stole at the end of Trainspotting, has reasonable grounds to fear the worst from the others.
Transferring to the stage, it is foul-mouthed, coarse and funny. The pieces slot into place for a dark farce in which all players converge on the Port Sunshine Tavern in Leith, where proprietor Sick Boy adds to the level of jeopardy with his sidelines in credit-card fraud and pornography.
The performances are broad and gutsy, the pathos as real as the comedy, but it is one of those rare fringe shows that could do with being twice as long. Scarcely is the build-up over when it speeds to an end; a high-definition sketch that needs longer to make its comic and emotional impact.
