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.

Following an acclaimed sold-out Edinburgh season, Olivier Award-winner Jack Lowden, star of international hit show Slow Horses, reprises his role as Luka joined for the West End by Emmy, BAFTA and SAG Award winner Martin Freeman as James.

Directed intimately in-the-round by Finn den Hertog, The Fifth Step is a provocative, entertaining and dryly funny new play from David Ireland.

Written by David Ireland
Directed by Finn den Hertog

Produced by Neal Street, Playful Productions and National Theatre Scotland