Derek McGhie warns that York audiences could be in for a shock when see Trainspotting on stage.

Not only by the drug-taking and bad language but by the fact that the play isn't like the hit film that starred Ewan McGregor.

He points out that the the film, in its turn, isn't like the original novel by Irvine Welsh.

"The play is basically snapshots of the book," says the Scottish actor, making his first appearance this side of the border in the production in the Theatre Royal's Studio space.

"The play was first done about 1994 and I think it's changed through different productions. It's very different from the film, but then the book is very different from the film as well."

His own character, Tommy, is an amalgamation of several characters, including Spud and Tommy, that people will recognise from the story. "He's the sort of guy who, no matter what he does, it always goes wrong. He has quite a nasty ending," says McGhie.

The cast also includes Duncan Marwick, Jo Freer and Paul Cowie. He shared a flat with the latter during his last year studying acting at Queen Margaret University College in Edinburgh.

McGhie, who comes from a small mining village, still lives in the Scottish capital - in Leith, where Trainspotting is set. While at college he worked in a supermarket that was once the derelict station featured in the book. "It's quite good knowing something about the area and the people. It helps," he says. "Although Leith is changing and becoming a very yuppie area now."

The people in Trainspotting are caught up in the drugs culture, which had to be researched. "Heroin is not something I'm familiar with," he says. "So it was something pretty alien to me. We've had quite a bit of information given to us, and people coming in to talk about drug use.

"I suppose that's the most difficult thing for me. The biggest challenge was to know about drugs, to present that believably and for us to grasp."

Director Tim Welton has previously staged Happy Jack, Live Bed Show and Disco Pigs in the opening season in the Studio. The small acting space suits the play, McGhie feels.

"It's quite an intimate show, about relationships between people and it's good you have the audience right there, feeling amongst it," he says.

"There are parts it will be uncomfortable watching, but I don't think that's a bad thing. That makes it more real."

* Trainspotting runs in The Studio, York Theatre Royal, from Friday until May 31. Tickets (01904) 623568.

Steve Pratt