Choose life in the US, choose to teach circus skills, choose to play Renton on Broadway...
Actor Andrew Barrett speaks of his life and landing lead role in NewYork stage version of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting
An emerging acting talent from Perth has landed a big role in a New York theatre, playing one of the most iconic roles in Scottish literature.
Andrew Barrett (25) has just secured his big break, appearing across the pond in ‘Trainspotting Live’, which opens on July 15.
He plays the lead role of Renton – the heroin addict antihero of the book and landmark 1996 film, in which he was portrayed by another Perthshire man, Ewan McGregor.
It has been adapted to the stage by Harry Gibson and Andrew can’t wait to slip into the Renton persona.
“I am delighted to be playing Renton,” he says. “Irvine Welsh is my favourite author. There is only one book of his I haven’t read yet (The Blade Artist, all about Begbie, set after the events of Skagboys, Trainspotting and Porno), but it’s in the post.
“He writes about people who aren’t often portrayed in literature as real human people, not caricatures of junkies or schemies or that.
“Although I grew up in Perth, both my parents and most of my family are from Edinburgh.
“I think everyone knows a Renton, a Sickboy, a Begbie, a Spud, an Alison: they’re real. I’m excited by the role of Renton because to me he’s like some kind of Scottish junkie Hamlet. He steals Kierkegaard from Waterstones just to read about his ideas of subjectivity, choice and truth.
“The vast majority of the text in the play is lifted verbatim from the novel, and it keeps the books episodic nature and stark tone, I think more than the film does. It’s a rough sketch of a rough lifestyle.”
Brought up in Perth, Andrew trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Lecoq Lees Studios in Paris.
In 2016 his life took a humanitarian turn, when he worked in dozens of refugee camps across Europe from Calais to Budapest, using his skills as a professional clown and musician to bring circus, magic and music to the thousands of unaccompanied children held there.
“In January 2017 I left my job at the Twa Tam’s pub and Provender Brown delicatessen in Perth.
“After marrying my American partner Mariah, we moved to New York City,” said Andrew.
“Since then I’ve been hustling, starting a new life in America. I’ve been working predominantly in classical theatre, due to my accent I think.
“Most recently I played Puck and Cassio in Shakespeare and Company’s touring productions of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘Othello’.
“In New York, to get by between acting gigs, I teach young people circus skills and perform Robert Burns poetry and songs with my wife at events for Scottish societies such as the New York Robert Burns Society and the Caledonian Society, as well as maintaining a plethora of temping and bar work – ubiquitous for actors getting started in a big city.”
Andrew moved on to speak about the experience of his new surroundings: “It’s a unique time to be an immigrant in America right now. Because of my race and background, my journey is very different and so much easier than a lot of folks coming to this country, but coming here at this time has given me an objective perspective of the current political climate.
“I emigrated two days before the inauguration of the current president, and have seen all the madness firsthand. Andrew on life under Trump
“Although it’s often a dark and turbulent time here, getting to witness and contribute to the grassroots events and movements that are speaking up to power like The Women’s March, the MeToo movement and the March for Our Lives movement is really inspiring, and gives me a lot of hope for the future.”
Andrew’s travles have seen him experience a range of different cultures. And he reckons the themes covered by Trainspotting are not unique to Scotland.
“In New York City I see all kinds of people. A subway car in Manhattan at any time is a mix of the widest variety of people I’ve ever seen. I’ve started thinking about what it would take for any one of these people to choose to inject heroin. We don’t like to think about it, but it could happen to any of us, and our life and identity would immediately and indelibly be rebranded as ‘addict,’ ‘junkie,’ ‘smackhead,’ ‘skagboy’.
“The image we often have when we picture a heroin addict is a poor, unemployed, unsuccessful, lower class, stupid, untrustworthy Gollum-like creature, some kind of cartoon. But addicts are just ordinary people, living with a disease, who deserve to have their stories told sympathetically, especially in America now during the opioid crisis.”
The cast is made up of actors from Wales, Australia, Switzerland and England, so Andrew had a head start over them on the Scots accent: “But I’ll have to work hard to help the audience translate ‘Aye ah um, if I’m oan ma tod n ah git set oan by they wee radges’ in real-time, assuming they’ve never heard any of those words before.”
Proud dad, Perth councillor Peter Barrett, plans to lead a family mission to see Andrew appear in the show in August, even taking Andrew’s gran to get an eyeful of the gritty story of heroin consumption in Edinburgh.
Andrew laughed: “As soon as I told the family about the casting they were already booking flights, before I could even convey the adult nature of the show. I think my gran is in for a shock.”
He writes about people who aren’t often portrayed in literature as real human people, not caricatures of junkies ...