TRAINSPOTTING: Character Promo - Lizzie

‘So ye’d rather go tae a concert wi Davie Mitchell than go to the pictures wi me?!!?’

The latest character in our series of Trainspotting posters is the introduction of the shrieking girlfriend from hell, Lizzie MacIntosh.

Played by Simone Kelly, Lizzie is loud, overbearing, demanding and has a mouth like a sailor. This does not make life easy for her good natured boyfriend Tommy. So, why stay with her? Well, she’s a cracker in the sack, isn’t she?

Simone Kelly has appeared in every one of our productions so far. She played Julie in all three runs of Heart Shaped Vinyl and also appeared in Cannibal! The Musical.

This poster also features Michael Murphy as Davie Mitchell. One of his many guises, Michael plays more than a dozen characters in Trainspotting. This is his debut production with Devious Theatre.

These character posters for Trainspotting serve to introduce the many faces of Irvine Welsh’s work, or even reintroducing them to people familiar with the previous incarnations of the characters.

As designed by Paddy Dunne, the posters will be unveiled in the weeks leading up to the performance.

Tickets for Trainspotting are already available in The Watergate Theatre and can be purchased at 056 – 7761674.

Trainspotting will arrive onstage from June 24th to the 28th.

I’ve Got My Tickets, How About You?

Well, ok, I don’t have tickets for the show. The only reason being is that I’m actually in the show. But we’ve had a few questions recently via email as to how people can book tickets for the show. So in case you’ve missed the notes around the site and in the press that bookings are currently open at The Watergate Theatre in Kilkenny, you can book tickets

• By calling into the Watergate Theatre box office on Parliament Street in Kilkenny
• Over the phone / by credit card by phoning the box office on +353 56 7761674

The Watergate can post tickets out to you until the week of the show, or you can pay for your tickets in advance and collect them at the box office on or before the performance night.

Don’t forget, we’re running from June 24 to June 28, the show starts at 8pm nightly and you should be able to join us for pints across in Cleere’s from about 10pm onwards. You’re buying the first round by the way. After all, we’re just humble, broke actors in this game for the sheer love of it. That and the adrenaline rush of course.

TRAINSPOTTING: Character Promo – Tommy

‘Funny how it aw works oot, eh?’

The newest reveal in our series of Trainspotting character promos sees the introduction of the doomed hero at the core of the play, Tommy McKenzie.

Played by Ken McGuire, Tommy is the fit, healthy outgoing moral centre of Trainspotting. He likes his pint, his game of football and loves his Iggy Pop. And he doesn’t do heroin, even if a lot of his mates do more than enough of it.

Tommy’s addiction is life. And when it starts to fall apart on him, darker addictions start to take hold.

Ken McGuire is one of the founding members of Devious Theatre and has appeared in each of our productions so far. He previously directed Cannibal! The Musical.

These character posters for Trainspotting serve to introduce the many faces of Irvine Welsh’s work, or even reintroducing them to people familiar with the previous incarnations of the characters.

As designed by Paddy Dunne, the posters will be unveiled in the weeks leading up to the performance.

Tickets for Trainspotting are already available in The Watergate Theatre and can be purchased at 056 – 7761674.

Trainspotting will arrive onstage from June 24th to the 28th.

Trainspotting - Choo Choo (Rehearsals Week 5)

Choo choo!

Well, it’s nearly due to arrive.

Due to the fear of mastering Scottish accents, authentically depicting junkiedom and doing Irvine Welsh’s masterful text some justice, we’ve being giving rehearsals the entire sock drawer the past few weeks.

We’re nearly at the stage where the entire play is blocked, the scenes are looking in pretty decent shape. We’re lucky to have such a good piece of core material that gives the actors so much to chow down on. Harry Gibson’s adaptation has put a lot of lovely theatrical devices into play and we’ve really relished the character’s asides, narrative monologues, multiple playing, abstract scenarios and musical sequences. Yup… I said it… musical sequences.

We had our first rehearsals last week with the drug paraphernalia and it was pretty intense to be honest. Everybody was a little bit freaked out by the sight of the needles and syringes. Horrible, sharp fuckers. We had ourselves some cooking lessons, so to speak, just to get the hang of preparing heroin. It’s gonna need a lot of practice but we’ll get there. We want to be very responsible with this production and we don’t want to give any false impressions of heroin addiction or the use of the drug so we’re trying to be as authentic as we possibly can be with the portrayal of drug use. Of course, we drew the line at preparing with real heroin….we just used gravy. Suffice to say, it smelt manky. Don’t ever try and heat gravy up with a spoon and lighter.

As some of you may have seen, Paddy Dunne’s wizardry on the design front has so far produced 4 amazing character posters with another 5 in the works. Not to mention a main, all encompassing poster and the teaser poster of our take on the iconic Trainspotting skull motif. So yeah, Paddy’s been a busy man and I’m sure he’ll be offering some words of wisdom on his creative process in the coming weeks… when he finally gets to drag himself away from Photoshop of course. All in all, 11 posters for a 5 night run of a play might be seen as being too much but fuck it, it costs us nothing but our time and imagination… and a little blutac. We get very excited by this whole theatre lark and we’d like to get other people excited about it too, likesay, ken?

The costumes are looking lovely too. Well, as lovely as drab costumes for a bunch of junkies, thieves and psychopaths in 1980’s Edinburgh can look. Most of the bits and pieces have been put into place and the look of the characters is taking shape. We’ve gone back to the book for ideas on how the characters look, rather than fall into the trap of emulating some of the film’s designs. You wouldn’t believe the amount of people who were quite taken aback by the fact that Ross is not sporting the Ewan McGregor shaved head look. Instead, we’ve gone with Mark Renton as he is in the book, a pasty faced unhygienic ginger sort. And as you can see from the Renton character poster he’s sporting a ginger do that’s reminiscent of Bowie during his Berlin era.

We’ve had a lot of design meetings these past few weeks and the set is also coming together pretty well. Eddie, our set designer, has been drawing up his plans and stock piling material and it’s going to be a lovely ramshackle mess methinks. Check out our ‘Trainspotting Design’ album to see a couple of ideas and visual pointers for the look of our production. It ain’t pretty that’s for sure.

We’ve also just embarked on our PR blitz and we’re trying to get the play out there as much as we humanely can. So, pass the word around!

The tickets are booking for the play so if you wanna ensure seats 056 – 7761674 is the number to ring. We’re 3 weeks off the play at this stage which is absolutely mind boggling. I’m gonna go now and be a little terrified.

Choose tea.

John Morton
Co – Director
Trainspotting

Trainspotting: Character Promo - Renton

“Ah chose not tae choose life, ah chose something else…”

The latest in our series of Trainspotting character promos sees the debut bow of the main man himself, Mark Renton.

Played by Ross Costigan, Mark Renton is a greedy, self loathing, nihilistic anti hero. He’s a junkie with little regard for friends, family and indeed, personal hygiene. The ‘red heided cunt’ as he’s affectionately called by Begbie, is a man at odds with himself and the world he lives in.

Yet, at his core, there’s a part of Renton that wants to change his ways, to redeem himself, to choose…. life. As he navigates the audience through the dark underbelly of 1980’s Edinburgh, we see the changes that occur in Renton as he desperately tries to get out while he still can.

Ross Costigan is one of the core members of Devious Theatre and has appeared in each of our productions so far.

These character posters for Trainspotting serve to introduce the many faces of Irvine Welsh’s work, or even reintroducing them to people familiar with the previous incarnations of the characters.

As designed by Paddy Dunne, the posters will be unveiled in the weeks leading up to the performance.

Tickets for Trainspotting are already available in The Watergate Theatre and can be purchased at 056 – 7761674.

Trainspotting will arrive onstage from June 24th to the 28th.

Tommy Says Rehearsals Are Barry, Ken?

So the rehearsal process continues at Devious Towers (our super sexy rehearsal location smack in the middle of Kilkenny). What with the bank holiday weekend upon us, this week has been pretty intensive so far, and continues to be with two more lengthy rehearsals scheduled for tonight (Wednesday) and tomorrow (Thursday).

Speaking from an actors point of view (I’m playing Tommy, don’t you know) I’ve had a reasonable week thus far, knocking out accent kinks wherever possible with the daes and wis, naes and likesays, ye ken?

Proper junkies that we are, we’re also weening ourselves off scripts this week - at least for the scenes that have been blocked, and blocked, and drilled into your head. Next week should see the entire play blocked off, scripts binned, full props at the ready and regular runs of the show set for the following week.

We’ve also got our press hats on this week (what a scoop!) so expect a flurry of activity over the coming week with regional and national press releases, sneak photos from the rehearsal process and more promotional posters than you could shake a stick at. Or a fist. Or a Scottish flag.

I’m sure there’ll be someone along soon to fill you in on how the week continues to go. In the meantime, enjoy your lunch on this fine Wednesday afternoon.

Ken

Trainspotting: Character Promo - Begbie

“Ah’m no they type a cunt thit goes lookin’ fir bother, likes” - Franco Bebgie

The third in our series of character posters for Trainspotting shows Niall Sheehy as Franco Begbie for our upcoming production of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting. A violent sociopath, Begbie terrorizes his “friends” into going along with whatever he says, assaulting and brutalizing anyone who angers him. This violence is reflected in the manner in which he speaks. He is the only one in the group who does not use heroin and, although he considers junkies to be the lowest form of life, he is himself thoroughly addicted to alcohol, amphetamine, and violence.

Niall is a newcomer to The Devious Theatre Company, having worked previously with Dreamstuff Theatre (as the majority of us have over the last seven years).

These character posters for Trainspotting serve to introduce the many faces of Irvine Welsh’s work, or even reintroducing them to people familiar with the previous incarnations of the characters.

As designed by Paddy Dunne, the posters will be unveiled in the weeks leading up to the performance. Other posters to come along in the series (collect them all!) include Renton, Tommy, Diane, Lizzie, Sick Boy and Mother Superior.

Tickets for Trainspotting are already available in The Watergate Theatre and can be purchased at 056 – 7761674.

Trainspotting will arrive onstage from June 24th to the 28th.

Trainspotting: Character Promo - Alison

“This is mad….What planet are we oan?” - Alison

The next in our series of Trainspotting character posters sees the introduction of Alison.

Played by Maria Murray, Alison is another of the wayward souls who populate the dark underbelly of 1980’s Edinburgh. An unrepentant drug abuser, Alison can’t see anything beyond her own addiction, not even her infant daughter.

Maria Murray has previously worked with Devious Theatre on our production of Cannibal! The Musical and this marks her debut lead role with us.

These character posters for Trainspotting serve to introduce the many faces of Irvine Welsh’s work, or even reintroducing them to people familiar with the previous incarnations of the characters.

As designed by Paddy Dunne, the posters will be unveiled in the weeks leading up to the performance.

Tickets for Trainspotting are already available in The Watergate Theatre and can be purchased at 056 – 7761674.

Trainspotting will arrive onstage from June 24th to the 28th.

Trainspotting: Character Promo - Spud

“It’s a fuckin’ miserable life man. It’s nay life at all, ken?” - Spud

This is the first in a series of upcoming promotional images, each one showcasing our lovely actors and a first look at characters that inhabit the underbelly of 1980’s Edinburgh. Presented here for your viewing pleasure (or displeasure, perhaps?) is Stephen “Pip” Colfer as Danny “Spud” Murphy. Stephen is a familiar face in the Devious troupe: In Cannibal! he took to the stage as James Humphries.

We will be rolling out these character images on a regular basis in the run up to the show, so keep an eye out for them!

Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting, an adaptation by Harry Gibson, arrives at the Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny on the 24th to the 28th of June. Tickets are on sale now and can be booked at +353 56 61674.

Trainspotting - Week One

After a week of pretty intensive rehearsals I thought it might be a good idea to let everyone know how we’re getting on with our production of ‘the Scottish Play.’
Ehhh…. The other one.

First off, the accents are a total bastard but hey, we’ve prepared and we’ve got time. The actors have been giving it socks or ‘soacks’ as Begbie might say. The most problematic word so far has been ‘no’ as in ‘not’ which constantly translates as ‘nu’ as opposed to ‘no’. Ehhh… ay, it’s a right tricky bugger. It’s a long journey from here still but I’m confident we’ll arrive in style come late June. As everyone’s favourite glass chucking psycho would say “A sprinter’ll nivir fuckin last the pace wi a distance man.”

The cast that we assembled for the play have justified all of our faith in them. Utter A game, pure and utter A game off them all round. The rehearsals have been pretty intensive so far. We’ve been really knuckling into the monologues and battering out a shape and structure to them. They’re long, they’re tough and they’re very Scottish but the level of writing is just so amazing that really, it’s a pleasure to work with such epic language. And I don’t just mean the swearing.

After developing this play for so long it’s so good to see it coming to life with our versions of Spud, Begbie, Renton and Alison starting to spring from the spitting, straining sinews of our dedicated acting force.

So all in all, after week one of rehearsal, progress has been made with an awful lot more to make.

All the other aspects of the production have been kicking into gear as well.

- Tommy has been figuring how to get all the props onto one carpet. Yup.
- Eddie is worryingly confident about pulling off the set. ‘No bothers’ he says.
- Myself and Niamh have been arguing the merits of shopping trolley V cot.
- We’ve also been furiously whittling down our potential soundtrack for the show. One thing’s for sure, it won’t feature Underworld.
- Paddy has been scribbling at the concept art. One thing’s for sure, it won’t feature the colour orange.
- Ken has been plugging, promoting and name dropping like a man possessed. One thing’s for sure, he gets around.
- Kate has started a crusade to find as many manky denim shirts as she can.
- And our pursuit of a permanent rehearsal space has just bared fruit. Boy, is Kilkenny busy with amateur dramatics these next few months.
- And all of us are frantically trying to get into some sort of character shape for the upcoming poster and promo shoot. There’s some magic being lined up with these, so do stay posted. What isn’t magic however, is the gunk that Pip spent most of yesterday sitting in. It probably smelled worse than arse explosion.

In other news, tickets have in fact started booking for the show already and you can procure yours with the friendly staff at the Watergate Theatre on this number: (056) 7761674.

Until later wee gadges,

John

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