Danny Coleman-Cooke reviews Trainspotting Live now playing at The Vaults in London.
Trainspotting Live
The Vaults
29th March 2018
4 Stars
A theatre under a railway arch feels like a fitting venue for a stage version of Trainspotting. Kitted out like the grimiest rave club, the dark and grungy atmopshere lends itself perfectly to one of the most graphic and hard-hitting novels of recent times.
Entering the venue is a real buzz, as audience members, equipped with glowsticks, are led by the cast in joining a rave. As you may have gleaned, this is certainly not a show for people who like to be passive observers. With a tactile cast and various fluids flying around, it is a relentless immersive experience.
Whilst this is exhilarating in many ways, the staging can be frustrating. The long, thin stage means you can sometimes lose the dialogue at the other end, and the action spilling into the audience means some scenes are rendered invisible.
Despite this, the acting is fantastic throughout, with some high intensity performances, especially considering the cast is performing twice a night. These performances come more to the fore later on, as the show eschews the gross-out panto and embraces the emotion at its core, showing the stark reality of drug addiction.
Frankie O’Connor in particular is a manic ball of energy as Renton, showing incredible stamina and a gift for physical humour. Chris Dennis is also chillingly brutal as the psychopathic Begbie.
This show can’t boast the strongest plotline and doesn’t flesh out its characters quite enough to make this a five star show. But it will certainly give an assault on the senses that is hard to match and an experience that you will never forget.
Until 3 June 2018
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Danny Coleman-Cooke is an experienced writer, who covers news, sport and comedy for high-profile personalities and broadcasters. His speeches and scripts can be seen on stage, on primetime TV and in Parliament, broadcast to wide and diverse audiences. His experience includes writing for the BBC’s Have I Got News for You, Channel 4’s Paralympics coverage, and the Premier League’s live match commentary. He has also managed social media accounts for a number of major brands, including Tesco, The Guardian and the BBC. He's also a well-established speechwriter, scriptwriter and copywriter and has written for a wide range of famous faces in the world of politics and entertainment. He recently had his first theatrical credit, as co-writer of a musical adaptation of Beowulf, which toured the Midlands and was performed at the Royal Albert Hall. Danny is a huge theatre fan and was part of the writing team for the 2015 and 2016 Olivier Awards.
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