Ben Lawrence — Theater Critic

The incoherence of this production, at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, is best illustrated by its music. While the film’s famously killer soundtrack has, in part, been retained (Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life and Lou Reed’s Perfect Day both feature), it is diluted by a mixture of pop hits that weren’t in the film and, worst of all, a set of new songs which, with the exception of a jolly hoedown entitled C---s Run the Country, barely register. It is downright odd to see such cynical no-hopers as Renton (Lewis Kidd) and Sick Boy (Sheridan Townsley) going all jazz hands, and it undermines the power of Welsh’s characterisation.

Scott is one of our greatest stage actors, and I am happy to say is on mesmerising form here, creating a whole emotional world for each role, and performances that are discrete enough to make you feel you are watching a quiet battle between the various wretched individuals wasting away on a country estate.