Brig was invited to the premiere of the live capture of The Fifth Step from the National Theatre Live on November 4. The never ending plot twists left audiences amazed.
The Fifth Step follows the story of recovering alcoholic Luka, played by Jack Lowden, and his Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) sponsor James, played by Martin Freeman. Compared to Luka, James seems to have it all. A wife, a son he calls his best friend, mates, and twenty five years sober under his belt. He tells Luka he can help him get there too, if only he follows his rules.
The bumpy road to recovery
The play opens with Luka declaring himself an “incel.” He has controversial views on women, and struggles with feelings of loneliness. Over the course of the play, James encourages Luka to better his life. He tells him to stop going to pubs with his friends, attend as many AA meetings as he can, and to be open with his sponsor.
Luka appears to be unreliable, and the audience are frequently unsure whether he is telling the truth. James begins to treat him with increasing scepticism, damaging their close relationship.
Eventually, they reach the fifth step of the AA programme where Luka has to write down all the bad things he has done, and then read them to his mentor. As Luka seems stuck in a rut – sleeping with a married woman, going to pubs because his friends are there – the audience form a stronger bond with his strait laced sponsor who is trying his best. Though are people ever that easy to understand?
Influenced by reality
The writer, David Ireland, confirmed that his own life experiences influence the play, including his conversion to Christianity. As Luka’s sponsor encourages him to have a religious awakening, Luka encounters Jesus is a number of seemingly funny ways, which again cause the audience to doubt Luka’s reliability. However, when James questions Luka on his newly discovered faith he is readily able to back it up with verses from the Bible.
The aspect of a Scottish mentee and English mentor is played into. The comedy between them is awkward, and at times overbearing. When Luka asks James an invasive question, James asks whether he has a problem with boundaries. “What is a boundary?” Luka replies.
The writer commented in a panel after the screening, that when the play was performed in Scotland there was an audience feeling of sympathy for Luka, while in England the audience seemed to side with James, who had unfairly been influenced.
The simple staging made up of mostly chairs and cups of coffee lends itself to quick changes. It is easy to follow when the meeting has changed, but it is also exciting to watch the two actors use the props to change scene.
By the end of the play, it is easy to forget that this is actually a show about alcoholism, and the effect an addiction can have. The devastating end brings the performance full circle, and shows Ireland’s writing skill. The Fifth Step is a gripping commentary on who we trust and how appearances deceive.
The Fifth Step was originally staged by the National Theatre of Scotland and first performed in Dundee prior to opening at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2024 before touring to Glasgow. The live capture was taken when the play transferred to London’s West End, where it was performed at the in-the-round @sohoplace, directed by Finn den Hertog.
The Fifth Step live capture will be shown in cinemas from November 27.
Featured Image Credit : Kat Gollock
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Journalism and English student.
