"Choose a life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers..."
Trainspotting Live is on at Southampton's Engine Rooms from Tuesday February 20th till Saturday February 24th. It is a bold and immersive production with the same Scottish drawl, the same unforgettable moments and - almost all - the same iconic characters from Irving Welsh's 1993 novel.
It's hard to pick the most iconic thing from Trainspotting: those words, that toilet, the baby crawling across the ceiling, or the pulsating beats of Underworld's Born Slippy NUXX from Danny Boyle's 1996 film adaptation. Both the book and the film have achieved cult status thanks to their dark and bleak, but energetic, look at a drug-addled 1980s Edinburgh.
The stage adaption was actually written before the 1996 film. It seems playwright Harry Gibson was well aware that the plot and dialogue alone wouldn't be enough to really delivery the intensity Trainspotting deserved. That's why Trainspotting Live breaks away from traditional theatre to place the audience in amongst the action, from the highs of glow-stick waving rave to the low lows of drug addiction, withdrawal, self-destruction, and death.
Unsurprisingly, Trainspotting Live isn't suitable for children. The production is restricted to audience members 16 years and older, and under 18s much be accompanied by an adult. Tickets for the show are £27.50 for reserved seats or £22 for general admission, plus booking fees. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling the box office on 0800 6889311.