Classic Tales And New Directions

Irvine Welsh on the joy of writing and the cultural impact of his work.

- Paul F Cockburn

FOR a writer who has just had three shows performed at last month’s 70th anniversary Edinburgh Festival Fringe, theatre didn't feature much when Leith-born Irvine Welsh was growing up.

“Apart from panto at the King’s Theatre – Stanley Baxter, Ronnie Corbett and all that – it was never a big thing for me,” he says. “I got into theatre more when I was a student – you used to get cheap tickets – and I went through a time when I kind of really got into Shakespeare.”

Not that Irvine has gone all soft.

“The way Shakespeare’s plays were originally performed was to working class audiences, to the general mob of people. A lot of theatre is a bit stiff and pompous now; I want to get back to that kind of theatre, to get back the kind of feeling that it’s a bit like going to a football match.”

Two of his three shows were original new works: Creatives, described in the programme as a “dark, comic pop-opera”, was co-written with Don De Grazia, professor of Fiction Writing at Columbia College, Chicago and author of cult novel American Skin.

The play Performers is a black comedy set in 1960s “swinging” London, on which Irvine has worked with his old friend Dean Cavanagh.

The third show was the triumphant Edinburgh return of an internationally acclaimed “immersive” adaptation of his famous debut novel, Trainspotting.

“I don’t really have to do anything with Trainspotting Live; those guys – theatre company In Your Face – have got that one!” Irvine says.

“In a sense, it’s not mine any more; it’s one of these things that you just have no choice but to let go with good grace and let the world take it over.