www.whatsonstage.com: The tour’s demise was marked down to unhealthy ticket sales and a turbulent economic climate: Trainspotting cast members and creatives admitted that if this, of all shows, can’t sell in Edinburgh then really there’s not much to gain in trying. But the period also marked a very pronounced window of hostility between creatives and critics – unlike any this editor has really seen before.
5 comments:
I was familiar with the Trainspotting musical, but never in a positive sense. Coverage of it has, in my experience, mostly stuck to either bewilderment with the premise or unsurprised solemnity regarding the lack of success. The question dominating all of those posts or articles has been "who wanted this?" Turns out, basically no one and (to use easily the best quote from the article) "if this, of all shows, can’t sell in Edinburgh then really there’s not much to gain in trying". I absolutely adore Trainspotting in all of its clunk and confusion, and I know I'm not alone, but at what point do we have to draw a line and stop the endless adaptations? At what point has the story been told better before, and we as a society stop caring? And, potentially worst of all, when do we lose the message? Apparently, for the good people of Edinburgh, that point of no return may just be a musical.
This is an interesting article that touches on a few different topics that are very prevalent in the entertainment industry. The first that jumped out to me has been made very prevalent with the involvement of internet and social media publicism. The topic in question is "click baiting", and prior to reading this article I had not considered as a topic that majorly affected shows in live entertainment. A critic's job is to make an article that people want to read at the end of the day as if no one reads their article no one will see the ads that are on said article. Unfortunately for the show that the critic is reviewing a click bait title is the best what to get someone to click on the article. Even if said title created a lie that painted the show in question in a bad light. On top of that this article also showcased that sometimes people make creating a click bait title to easy to create by criticizing or speaking ill of the people reviewing their show.
It's not a modern concept that commercial productions (and arguably most productions on a more general scale) hinge on profitability as the hallmark of success. With the upstart cost of creating theatre and media in general, it's no surprise people are turning more and more to adaptations rather than original ideas, or at least that adaptations are being vastly more supported on a large scale. I’ve seen Trainspotting, and part of the allure is the film's ability to capture the gritty raw energy of characters and their situations. Trainspotting’s is a story of adaptation, first a novel, then a play, followed by a movie. However, it is not one I would have picked to turn into a musical. Musicals are inherently excessive and ask the audience to suspend their disbelief enough to fall into what the characters are expressing. Trainspotting is too real. That is not to say musicals cannot be serious, gritty, and full of raw emotion. I only argue that the way in which a musical breaks reality does not mesh with the impact of Trainspotting’s characters and their journeys. Perhaps this is why it was successful both in film and as a play, but seems to have fallen flat as a musical. The article argues that, “Theatre criticism must always explore its own faults.” So too, must a production and theatre at large. This might just be the wrong media for this story. Now, I haven't seen the musical, nor had I heard one had been created so I won't say it is an impossible concept to get right. I only argue that I can understand where there might be more challenges in adapting this piece of media into this medium.
First of all, I did not know there was a Trainspotting musical. You mean like the movie?! Is there a whole song about climbing into a toilet?! It does not sound like something I would particularly enjoy, and I have pretty low standards. I think it says a lot that the writer is blaming the critics and saying they simply don’t understand the show. I think that probably comes from a lot of insecurity about his own writing. The comment in the article about benign surprised that be was more mad about the reviews than the low ticket sales is interesting to me. Like there are plenty of people you can blame for the lack of ticket sales on – it’s happening everywhere, but when someone criticizes the writing, there are only two people that can be blamed on. My guess is that the critics are saying all the things that Welsh thinks about his own writing, and it’s just hard to hear it from someone else. I cannot blame him too much; we’ve all been there.
As a member of what appears to be a minority of people who would gladly sit down to watch a Trainspotting musical, I’m definitely a little sad that it turned out to be a flop and that there does not appear to be a chance I’ll see a production of this musical. To be clear, I don’t doubt that it is probably not a great musical by what people consider the “objective standard” of what makes a musical good, but I imagine it would be at least somewhat entertaining. I also don’t necessarily see an issue with creative team members defending their work. I think the writer makes a really good point about how easy it is for critics to bash productions. It is really interesting to think about how we are so reliant on critics to tell us what shows are good, versus books and movies, which are much more accessible forms of media to consume. Since it is so difficult to go to the West End or Broadway to watch a show, we do just kind of take what critics say as the final word.
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