Acclaimed 2024 Edinburgh International Festival production, The Fifth Step, by David Ireland, is heading to London’s West End this summer with Jack Lowden, best known as River Cartwright in the Apple TV spy drama Slow Horses, reprising his performance as Luka, alongside the award-winning Martin Freeman, star of The Office and Sherlock, who joins the production as James, the part originally played by Sean Gilder in Ireland’s funny, unflinchingly and honest drama about addiction, masculinity and faith.
Having premiered last year in the Scottish capital’s Royal Lyceum, the production directed By Finn Den Hertog heads south to play the intimate @sohoplace theatre for a strictly limited 11-week season, previewing from 10 May and running until 26 July, 2025. Ahead of that run, the piece has been developed further for its West End premiere to take advantage of the new staging opportunities @sohoplace offers; the production will see two of the UK’s most exciting acting talents performing in the intimacy of an in-the-round space.
It’s clear Lowden can’t wait, he says, “To just be in the room again with David and Finn, two dangerously talented individuals, is a gift in itself. But to now add Martin to the mix, an actor of black belt level skill and a hero of mine, just tops it. I can’t wait for more people to experience The Fifth Step.”
Freeman adds, “I’m really looking forward to performing this brilliantly funny, unsettling, unexpected play. David Ireland is something quite special and Jack Lowden is an actor I have tremendous respect for and am looking forward to working with him.”
The story. Step 1: Honesty. Step 2: Faith. Step 3: Surrender. Step 4: Self-examination… After many years in the 12-step programme of Alcoholics Anonymous, James agrees to become the sponsor of newcomer Luka. On the journey to sobriety, the pair bond over black coffee, trade stories, and build a fragile friendship out of their shared experiences. On the cusp of Step 5, their conversations must turn to confessionals, with progress hinging on Luka revealing secrets that could lead back to alcohol. But it’s clear that James also has dangerous truths in his past, truths that threaten the trust on which both their recoveries depend.
“I’m really happy that The Fifth Step is coming to the West End,” says Ireland. “Jack Lowden and Martin Freeman are, for my money, two of the best actors in the country, so I feel very blessed to have them both in this play. I hope audiences in London will find the play as thrilling and funny and thought-provoking as audiences in Scotland have.”
Director den Hertog, agrees, “After a relatively short run with the National Theatre of Scotland last year, having an opportunity to revisit and re-imagine this play for the West End is hugely exciting. I know audiences are in for something genuinely special. David has always been one of my favourite theatre artists, truly a master of his craft, and his trademark caustic wit, irreverence and subversiveness are out in full force in The Fifth Step. Having recently spent time with Martin and Jack together, I can already see how electric their chemistry will be. These are elite actors working with an elite script… which hopefully makes my job very easy.”
The Fifth Step is produced by Neal Street Productions, Playful Productions and the National Theatre of Scotland in association with Nica Burns. 4,000 tickets or 15% of all available tickets will be priced at just £25.
Tickets here.
