As I was waiting in line to see Trainspotting at the artsdepot in North Finchley, my guest suddenly turned to me and casually confessed that this was the first theatre show he had ever seen.

Rather taken aback, I wondered if this was the best first show for him to see- particularly as he is from New Zealand and there was a concern some of the Scottish colloquialisms would go over his head.

However, the show more than lived up to his first-time expectations.

Even before we stepped into the Pentland Theatre, we could hear loud, thumping music and as the doors opened, it felt as though we were walking into a rave as the cast were energetically dancing around flashing disco lights and we were even given glow sticks as we were shown to our seats.

Noticing props scattered around the theatre, I quickly realised that this was the kind of show that encouraged audience participation and so I immediately found seats at the back of the room, with the hope that we would not be picked on at any point of the show. Despite my love of all theatre, I prefer to watch performances in peace having been pulled on stage in the past.

The show was performed by the In Your Face Theatre’s Scottish cast and followed the story of Irvine Welsh’s cult classic novel, which explored the life of Mark Renton (Gavin Ross) and his friends through the Edinburgh heroin scene of the 1980s.

Chris Dennis gave a standout performance as the psychotic Begbie, who filled everyone with fear as soon as his presence was felt in the theatre.

Erin Marshall was also impressive as Alison, as she convincingly hit the highs that heroin gave her and also the extreme lows of when her character’s baby was found dead.

The show lasted for an hour and a half and I did not even notice there was no interval.

All the actors kept up fast paced performances throughout and were very believable at portraying the horror of drug dependence against the bland reality of daily life.

They were also unafraid to regularly strip off and act as repulsive as possible, especially in a scene called “Worst toilet in Scotland”, which also involved the audience being splashed with muddy brown water.

If you thought the novel was already intense, the In Your Face Theatre cast take it up another extreme level.

After the show ended, I asked my guest what he thought of the show. He paused for a moment and thought carefully before replying: “It was a great experience.”

I couldn’t have agreed more and it was in keeping with much of the sentiment of the lines.

As Irvine Welsh wrote: “Better to make that life as complete and enjoyable an experience as possible, in case death is sh*te, which I suspect it will be.”

Trainspotting Live, artsdepot, Nether Street, Tally Ho Corner, North Finchley, N12 0GA, until Saturday, May 13, 7.30pm and 8.45pm. Details, artsdepot.co.uk, trainspottinglive.com