Trainspotting sequel Irvine Welsh's PORNO hits the West End

What has become of Renton, Sickboy, Begbie & Spud? Fifteen years after Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh’s sequel Porno transfers to London’s Arts Theatre on Sunday nights from 29 October-10 December.

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.

Prior to London, the show visits Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock on 13 September, King’s Theatre in Glasgow on 15-16 September, then visits three Northwest venues, Liverpool Olympia on 5 October, Crewe Lyceum on 6 October and Sale Waterside (Manchester) on 7 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) as Renton, Tony McGeever (Shetland, In Plain Sight) as Sickboy, Jenni Duffy (River City, On The Edge) as Lizzie, Chris Gavin (Days That Shook The World, Starcaster) as Begbie, Kevin Murphy as Spud, and Tom Carter (Coronation Street, Emmerdale) as Knox.

For the tour, Scott Kyle (Outlander, Kilo Two Bravo) takes the role of Renton, James McAnerney (Outlander, NEDs) is Sickboy, Jasmine Main (The Nest, Scot Squad) 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 said: “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.”

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