“The Fifth Step” at @sohoplace
Jane Edwardes in the West End
20 May 2025
David Ireland’s Cyprus Avenue, seen at the Royal Court Upstairs in 2016, was a disturbing, unforgettable account of a Belfast Loyalist, played by Stephen Rea, who becomes convinced that his baby granddaughter is really Gerry Adams. It was sectarian hatred at its bleakest. There are similarly surreal elements in Ireland’s The Fifth Step, another account of troubled masculinity, but without the obvious political background. The violence is muted and the comedy considerably stronger. Despite the themes of alcoholism, porn addiction, masturbation, loneliness, and betrayal, there are a surprising number of laughs.
Martin Freeman and Jack Lowden.
Photo credit: Johan Persson.
The play, a two-hander produced by National Theatre of Scotland, was first seen at the Edinburgh Festival last year – though it has been revised for this West End production. Jack Lowden of Slow Horses fame, and a memorable Oswald in Ghosts onstage, remains in the cast. He plays a young alcoholic, called Luka, who seeks help from Alcoholics Anonymous. In London, Lowden is joined by Martin Freeman (replacing Sean Gilder), bringing extra star power as James, who becomes Luka’s sponsor.
In a startling beginning, Luka declares, “I think I might be an incel”, which probably didn’t have the same effect in Edinburgh as it does now, following the TV series Adolescence.
Lowden’s Luka is a bundle of nerves, a twitching wreck, buried within his hoodie and unable to face the world outside. Luka asks James to be his sponsor – but there are warning signs from the start that this may not be a good idea.
James means well and may understand what Luka is going through, but he is not a warm man and is too fond of making judgements. He has been alcohol-free for 25 years, and stresses rather too emphatically the delights of his marriage, and how, unlike his own relationship with his father, he is incredibly close to his son. Tellingly, he describes him as his best friend – never a good sign.
With two such accomplished actors, the ensuing power struggle is always compelling. Over a series of meetings, Luka is reasonably compliant, attempting to give up his obsessive interest in porn as well as drink, and in agreeing to go to the gym. He has completed the first four steps of the AA programme but starts to resist the fifth, in which he is supposed to tell James everything shameful he has done in the past. Luka struggles with some of the things that James tells him.
But then Ireland springs a surprise. While on the treadmill at the gym, Luka sees Jesus, who appears alongside him in the shape of Willem Dafoe (star of the film The Last Temptation of Christ). Not an obvious disguise for the son of God, but it pleases Luka, who is something of a movie buff. Having discovered God, Luka’s confidence grows. During one of the scene changes, he dances exuberantly round the edge of the stage.
AA is often criticized for its roots in Christianity. David Hare put the boot in in My Zinc Bed in 2000. Is it possible to follow the programme if you don’t believe in God? Luka is an atheist when he starts the programme, and James a lapsed Catholic, who is now dabbling in Buddhism. He tries to explain to Luka that the programme allows you to find God anywhere, including, much to Luka’s puzzlement, in the bottom of a paper cup. Once he experiences his epiphany, Luka is equally confused when James starts to attack the established church. Luka’s dreams get weirder. Again, the tone changes as he starts to imagine that James is wearing rabbit ears in a nod to Harvey and Donnie Darko.
It is not possible to believe everything that either character says. Given that the play is a two-hander, and given the nature of its structure, it is inevitable that the tables will turn, and just a question of how long before it happens. At @sohoplace the play is being performed in the round, and it often feels like a boxing match in which the protracted sparring must come to a head eventually. Freeman skilfully shows how James becomes increasingly uncomfortable as Lowden’s unpredictable Luka grows more challenging, threatening James’s sense of security. Finn den Hertog’s production maintains the tension throughout of a play about serious subjects, but which is also full of laughs.
