Trainspotting

Norwich Playhouse

Trainspotting. A book. A film. A play. What is it about this tale of junkies in Edinburgh that has inspired so many creative minds, and kept this, the stage version, touring round the world, ready to make a 10th anniversary comeback here in Norwich last night?

Where do we find the clue to its success?

Perhaps it's in the plot - a seething mass of drug-fuelled antics, followed by come-downs and cold turkey?

Or the setting: Beautiful hard, grey-faced Edinburgh, a city chiselled out of the rocks, a secret and dark place, where even the comedy clubs are called things like 'the Underbelly'.

Then again, maybe it's the characters - who appear so extravagant that it's like watching clowns, the drunk scene in Shakespeare pushed to a tottering extreme, where we sway backwards and forwards as if on a tightrope, wondering whether to laugh or retch.

Whatever it is, the five-strong cast stormed on to the stage and kept us staring as they pounded through the angry dialogue, leaving the auditorium beating to the rhythm of their high.

t Trainspotting continues at Norwich Playhouse until Saturday, March 25. Box office: 01603 598598.