THE TOILET OF DESPERATION
“Trainspotting Live” comes with a mile-long warning list.
The immersive play, opening Sunday, warns of “violence, strong language, nudity, heavy drug use and needles.”
For a story of heroin addicts in Edinborough based on Irvine Welsh’s 1993 book that became a 1996 hit film directed by Danny Boyle all that rough stuff goes with the territory.
So does the last item on the catalog of cautions in this in-your-face (and hair) staging: “Worst toilet in Scotland.”
The putrid porcelain throne at Roy Arias Stages earns its disgusting reputation.
Credit gross-out theatrical magic and a mix of coffee grounds, flour and water for creating the crud-caked commode in the play, which was adapted from Irvine’s novel by Harry Gibson less than a year after the book came out.
“It’s meant to be revolting,” said Greg Esplin, who plays a doomed junkie and co-directs the raucous and sometimes incomprehensible show.
“The toilet helps drive the story of desperation,” he added. “It shows how far addicts will go for a fix.”
That point is all too relevant as the opioid crisis now ravages cities and small towns across the U.S.
And it’s driven home indelibly when Renton, an addict struggling to get off heroin played on film by Ewan McGregor, drops drugs down the toilet and swiftly retrieves them. It’s messy business. “The play doesn’t sugarcoat. And we don’t hold back,” said Andrew Barrett, who plays Renton. He calls the scene “anarchic.”
Gallagher-esque too. Water flies. Other stuff, too.
At the first preview, two audience members came prepared, according to a show source. Once they realized that their seats were next to the toilet, they donned ponchos for the show’s entire 75 minutes.
During the run of “Trainspotting Live” in London, the toilet scene led to walkouts and whining.
“We’ve had people complain,” said Esplin. “Others sent dry-cleaning bills.”
“The whole point is to make people uncomfortable,” he added. “This play is about the mess of addiction.”
For all its ick factor, the terrible toilet has earned a cheeky nickname backstage: the deconstructed Mocha Latte.