Plug pulled on UK tour of Trainspotting The Musical

The plug has been pulled just weeks into the launch run of the show in London’s West End.

Trainspotting The Musical was due to be performed in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dunfermline and Glasgow as part of a five-month tour across the UK.

However cast members took to the social media to reveal that the planned tour had been scrapped.

The tour dates have since been removed from the official website of the show, while venues on the tour have halted ticket sales.

The show, which was co-written by author Irvine Welsh and launched to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the film adaptation, was critically panned by critics when it launched last month.

However its producers have blamed the "current economic climate" for what it described as "lower than expected ticket sales".

Trainspotting The Musical is expected to continue its planned run in London until September 5.

Welsh has been developing the show for years with co-writer Steve McGuinness, producer Phil McIntyre and director Caroline Jay Ranger.

Planned to run at the Theatre Royal Haymarket until early September, the show’s extensive UK tour was due to open at the Edinburgh Playhouse in October and visit His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen, the Alhambra Theatre in Dunfermline and the Theatre Royal in Glasgow, before a closing run of dates at the Edinburgh Playhouse in March.

Speaking when the show was officially announced earlier this year, Welsh declared that the musical had “a bigger, loudly beating human heart than either the book or the film”.

He said at the time “It’s got real sass and vigour in the way the actors spark off against each other. I’m really looking forward to an audience seeing it.

“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. 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.”

Lewis Kidd, Sheridan Townsley, Kieran Andrew and Frankie O'Connor play Renton Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie in the musical, which describes the characters as "the industrial drug crazed working-class heroes of British youth culture".

The synopsis of the show states: “In 1996, choose life sounded like a challenge.

“Thirty years on, the landscape has shifted, but the hunger hasn't. Addiction hasn't disappeared - it's shifted. It's quieter now, more embedded. Less needle, more screen. Less escape, more repetition. The same restless search for something to fill the space.

“The musical highlights the world we see changing around us, the obscene concentration of wealth, economic and political power in the hands of so few people. It addresses the modern culture of powerlessness.

“This isn't nostalgia, it's closer than that. The past isn't revisited - it lingers. The musical doesn't tidy it. It sits with it. Listens to it. And lets it sing. New songs, classic songs, a musical like never before.”

Gordon Cooper, who is currently performing in the musical, said: "If you want to see Trainspotting The Musical you are going to do it in the five next weeks at Theatre Royal Haymarket.

"Sadly our tour has been cancelled. Apologies to everyone who has or planned to buy tickets to see the show around the country."

Kieran Brown, who is also appearing in the production, said: “So, once we finish Trainspotting in the West End, that’s it.

“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!

“Nothing to do with some of our reviews (I’m gloatingly pleased to say!). 100+ people (who’d poured their heart and soul into something that our audiences in London seem to love) suddenly find themselves unemployed from 6th September.

“This business is brutal - but it’s business at the end of the day. Lose £2 million now or £6 million later.

“So, so very much to be proud of.”

A spokesperson for the producers of Trainspotting The Musical said: "The forthcoming UK tour of Trainspotting The Musical, which was due to begin on October 19, has been cancelled.

"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."

A spokesperson for the Theatre Royal in Glasgow said: "‘Due to poor ticket sales, the upcoming tour of Trainspotting The Musical has been cancelled. Ticketholders will be contacted by their point of purchase with full refund details. We apologise for any inconvenience and disappointment this may cause."