NTL 2025 The Fifth Step. Photo: Johan Persson
The Fifth Step
by David Ireland
Directed by Finn den Hertog
Olivier Award-winner Jack Lowden (Slow Horses, Dunkirk) is joined by Emmy and BAFTA-winner Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, The Responder) in the critically acclaimed and subversively funny new play by David Ireland.
After years in the 12-step programme of Alcoholics Anonymous, James becomes a sponsor to newcomer Luka. The pair bond over black coffee, trade stories and build a fragile friendship out of their shared experiences. But as Luka approaches step five – the moment of confession – dangerous truths emerge, threatening the trust on which both of their recoveries depend.
Finn den Hertog directs the provocative and entertaining production filmed live from @sohoplace on London’s West End.
Run Time:
1 hour, 40 minutes
No Intermission
★★★★★
‘Raw, excruciating and often alarmingly funny’
– Daily Mail
★★★★
‘Two actors at the top of their game’
– Evening Standard
★★★★
‘Jack Lowden is staggeringly good’
– Times
★★★★
‘Freeman and Lowden spar like champions’
– WhatsOnStage
★★★★
‘Hilarious two-hander’
– Guardian
★★★★
‘Taut, funny and richly compassionate’
– Financial Times
Sponsors
Performing Arts programs are supported in part by Galia Meiri-Stawski and Axel Stawski, Henry and Peggy Schleiff, The Melville Straus Family Endowment, Monica and Peter Tessler, and Vital Projects Fund. Music Programming is supported in part by The Ellen and James S. Marcus Endowment for Musical Programming, and the Anne Wolf Concert Fund.
Additional support provided by Friends of the Theater: Natascia Ayers and Jim Ciquera, Bonnie and Joel Bergstein, Gene Bernstein and Kathy Walsh, Amy Cooney and Marty Feinman, John and Joan D’Addario, Suzanne and John Golden, Hilarie and Mitchell Morgan, Steve Pesner, in memory of his wife, Michèle Pesner, whose entire life was devoted to all aspects of culture, The Schaffner Family Foundation, Lisa Schultz and Ezriel Kornel, Stacey and Oliver Stanton, and Susi and Peter Wunsch.