Trainspotting: The Musical has cancelled its UK tour as tickets were “just not selling”.
The cult novel turned film was adapted for the stage by creator Irvine Walsh, who wrote songs for the musical alongside Stephen McGuinness. The musical also included covers of Iggy Pop’s ‘Lust for Life’ and Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’, which were both prominently featured in the original movie.
Now, following its London run at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, Trainspotting: The Musical has cancelled the rest of its UK tour, pulling planned shows in Glasgow, Aberdeen Manchester, Sheffield and more. Its last show is marked as September 5 in London.
According to Edinburgh Live, director and cast member Kieran Brown posted the following statement on Sunday (August 2): “The UK tour has sadly been cancelled – just not selling unfortunately for us. If Edinburgh of all places is stuck on 19 per cent sales – you know you’re f***ed..!”. The post appears to have been deleted.
In their own statement, the show said today (August 3): “The forthcoming UK tour of Trainspotting The Musical, which was due to begin on 19 October, has been cancelled.
Trainspotting The Musical cancels tour https://t.co/PFZKP71sGH pic.twitter.com/rEeqyA20Gh
— WhatsOnStage (@WhatsOnStage) August 3, 2026
“We are very grateful to our cast, crew and creative team for their dedication to the production, but the current economic climate has resulted in lower than expected ticket sales. Ticketholders will be contacted by their point of purchase with full refund details. We apologise for any inconvenience and disappointment this may cause.”
Speaking to The Guardian, Irvine Welsh said the musical would offer something different to traditional West End shows. “There are so many shows in the West End that are either stage plays with music perfunctorily thrown in or nostalgia pieces with unrelated music from the times” he said. “The only way I could see a Trainspotting musical work is if we could write our own songs that moved it along as a proper piece of musical theatre.”
Since first publishing Trainspotting in 1993, Welsh has written three sequels called Porno, Dead Men’s Trousers, and Men in Love. The latter was accompanied by a disco album which Welsh wrote with the Sci-Fi Soul orchestra.
Elsewhere, Irvine Welsh wants to recast ‘Trainspotting’ for a new TV series.