Babylon Heights

by Irvine Welsh, Dean Cavanagh

If you put four dwarfs in one room with enough opium and alcohol, it's bound to end in tears...

In 1935 MGM studios embarked on a movie adaptation of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The production called for the casting of many dwarfs to play the Munchkins of the mythical Land of Oz and the studio began recruiting 'small persons' from all over the world.

During production, rumours spread around Hollywood of wild Munchkin sex orgies, drunken behavior and general dwarf debauchery. More sinisterly, a Munchkin is said to have committed suicide by hanging himself on the set during filming - what appears to be a small human body is clearly visible hanging from a tree in the Tin Man scene. It is a claim that has passed into Hollywood legend.

Set in a hotel room in Culver City, California, Babylon Heights is Irvine Welsh and Dean Cavanagh's scabrous and hilarious imagining of what could, very possibly, have led to that dwarf suicide.

Babylon Heights premiered at the Exit Theatre, San Francisco, in June 2006.

Genres: Plays, Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2006

About the author

Probably most famous for his gritty depiction of a gang of Scottish Heroin addicts, Trainspotting (1993), Welsh focuses on the darker side of human nature and drug use. All of his novels are set in his native Scotland and filled with anti-heroes, small time crooks and hooligans. Welsh manages, however to imbue these characters with a sad humanity that makes them likable despite their obvious scumbaggerry. Irvine Welsh is also known for writing in his native Edinburgh Scots dialect, making his prose challenging for the average reader unfamiliar with this style.

Reviews

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a myth in cinema that a munchkin can be seen hanging during the scene in 'The Wizard of Oz' where the main characters sing "We're Off to See the Wizard". In 'Babylon Heights', Welsh and Cavanagh try to portray what might have led to this suicide. With four well drawn characters and a claustrophobic set, the play is savagely drawn and makes the audience question the toll the Hollywood system had on its actors.

[Keith [on semi hiatus] · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the curtains-open of "We hear the strains of the song 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' and the lights go up on a mid-1930s hotel room.", to the curtains-close of "as 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' starts to play in refrain.", every piece of dialogue is gloriously drenched in boozy, malty sadness.

As always, the writing and the hit to the heartstrings and groin area are a force as pure as the opiates coming out of X.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark and very funny it was a return for me to Welsh's earlier work. If The Wizard of Oz is a movie you hold dear to your heart from childhood and Trainspotting was not really your cup of tea skip this one.

[Steven Godin · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Irvine Welsh was going to co-write a play then never in a million years would I think it would have anything remotely to do with The Wizard of Oz. But then if he did, the munchkin actors losing themselves in a succession of wild drunken sex orgies -factual according to Judy Garland, wouldn't surprise me as much as, say, Dorothy and her new friends singing merrily along the Yellow Brick Road. I had no idea that Irvine Welsh is such a massive fan of the classic film. This left me scratching my head somewhat as when I think Welsh I think Renton swimming in shit, Francis Begbie going mental, hard drugs, vomit, dead babies crawling across the ceiling and a Mount Everest sized amount of bad language. Anyway, this play, set in the depression era 1930s L.A. - a hotel room where the casted munchkins roomed together to be precise, Welsh reimages just what the hell went on behind closed doors, which led to one of the little guys committing suicide. Throw in some opium along side the alcohol and...well...it's Welsh, so doesn't take a genius to see where we're heading - and it ain't PG-13. Darkly funny throughout it was certainly better than I thought it would be.

[Angm81 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the premise of this story, and I thought the character development was well-thought out, allowing the plot to unfold beautifully. The only thing that kept me from giving this a 4-star rating was the ending. It caused dissonance in my brain that Charles could kill himself; they had just portrayed him as too child-like to be capable of suicide.

[HillbillyMystic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is everything you would expect from a play written by Irvine Welsh. There are midgets, opiate addiction, suicide, alcoholism, rage, dank dialogue and buggering of course. The whole time I was reading this piece I was thinking how perfect it would be to have Ron Megee produce and direct this play in Kansas City. I would stay up past bedtime for that for sure.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was just OK. Was expecting some way wittier wordplay from Mssrs. Welsh & Cavanagh based on other work of theirs I'm familiar with.

[Benjamin]

ALSO, EVERYTIME I TRY TO GET RID OF MY IRVINE WELSH NOVELS - THEY ALSO REAPPEAR ON MY SHELF.