TRAINSPOTTING SEQUEL IRVINE WELSH’S PORNO HITS THE WEST END
New play runs Sunday nights at the Arts Theatre West End from October 29th to December 10th for seven shows only
London run follows a limited UK tour and a sell-out run at last year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Fifteen years after TRAINSPOTTING, what has become of Renton, Sickboy, Begbie & Spud? Disturbing, shocking & extremely funny. Contains swearing, sexual language, debauchery, drug use and even more swearing. As if you’d expect anything else…
Irvine Welsh’s PORNO is a full-length stage adaptation of the novel by the same name, which sold out one of the largest Pleasance venues for a month long run at Edinburgh Fringe in 2022, earning rave reviews from audiences and critics alike.
Now the show transfers to London’s theatreland, playing a season of seven Sunday nights at the Arts Theatre West End from 29th October until 10th December 2023, tickets are on sale now!
Prior to London, the show visits Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock on 13th September, King’s Theatre in Glasgow on 15th-16th September, then visits three Northwest venues, Liverpool Olympia on 5th October, Crewe Lyceum on 6th October and Sale Waterside (Manchester) on 7th October.
Mark Renton hasn’t been back to Leith since… well, since he robbed his pals and f*cked off to Amsterdam. Life has been… good? But there’s always been something missing. How will SICKBOY, BEGBIE & SPUD react to the return of RENTON? Have they all settled down and become respectable members of society? Did they CHOOSE LIFE? Of course, they f*cking didn’t!
The London run has an acclaimed cast of Liam Harkins (The Celtic Story, The Tommy Burns Story’ and Retreat) as Renton, Tony McGeever (Shetland, In Plain Sight, Doctors and Lord Of Rings : The Rings Of Power)as Sickboy, Jenni Duffy (River City and On The Edge)as Lizzie, Chris Gavin (Days That Shook The World, Starcaster) as Begbie, Kevin Murphy as Spud and Tom Carter (Coronation Street and Emmerdale) as Knox.
For the tour Scott Kyle (Outlander, Kilo Two Bravo, The Angel’s Share) takes the role of Renton, James McAnerney (Outlander, NEDs, Taggart, Rebus, Nightsleeper) is Sickboy, Jasmine Main (The Nest, Scot Squad, BAFTA Scotland Award Nominee) as Lizzie and Jim Brown as Knox.
PORNO is written and produced by the award-winning Davie Carswell and directed by Jonty Cameron.
Davie Carswell explained: “After a fantastic run at Edinburgh Fringe last year, it’s time to take the show on the road, stopping off at venues in Scotland, Northwest England and I am now excited to announce a run at London’s Arts Theatre West End for seven nights only across the autumn, bringing the show to Irvine Welsh fans. The adaptation follows the novel as closely as possible. We’ve used plenty of Irvine’s writing verbatim to give it a really authentic script. I loved T2, but it wasn’t Porno.
“The show deals with reaching a certain age and reflecting on what you’ve achieved, or not as the case may be. As you can expect from characters created by Irvine Welsh, the play will include sexual themes, drugs, and a lot of swearing. As if you’d expect anything else.
“I am really excited to see the reaction of the audiences across the country and on the West End run and I hope audiences will enjoy the ride.”
What the critics said…
“It’s difficult to imagine anyone but Robert Carlyle taking on the role of psychopath Begbie but Chris Gavin is a worthy successor.”
Natalie O’Donoghue – Broadway World
“Coarse, gutsy and funny. The pathos as real as the comedy.”
Mark Fisher – The Guardian
**** “Completely blown away by how great it was!”
Edinburgh Live
**** “This play is excellent. The characters fill the stage and own it.”
One4Review
**** “Everything that Trainspotting lovers wanted and more.”
Theatre Scotland
**** “A fantastic stage adaptation”
Theatre Weekly
**** “Forget Trainspotting 2, this is the real story”.
Sinners Review
Website: www.daviecarswell.com/porno
Twitter: @daviecar @FringePORNO
Facebook: Irvine Welsh’s p0rn0
TOUR LISTING INFORMATION
IRVINE WELSH’S PORNO
GREENOCK – BEACON ARTS CENTRE
Wednesday 13 September 2023
GLASGOW – KINGS THEATRE
Friday 15 – Saturday 16 September 2023
www.atgtickets.com/venues/kings-theatre-glasgow
LIVERPOOL – THE OLYMPIA
Thursday 5 October 2023
CREWE – LYCEUM
Friday 6 October 2023
Saturday 7 October 2023
LONDON – ARTS THEATRE WEST END
Sunday 29 October – Sunday 10 December 2023