The Fifth Step review – Jack Lowden and Martin Freeman go head to head

The Guardian

20-05-2025

Jack Lowden wasn't away from the stage for as long as his Slow Horses co-star Gary Oldman but it's still a thrill to find him returning to theatre. Seen at the Edinburgh international festival last summer, The Fifth Step – his first play since 2018 – gives him a character both volatile and vulnerable in a two-hander bristling with playwright David Ireland's signature style of knotty provocation and ribald comedy.
Lowden resumes the role of Luka, now playing opposite Martin Freeman as James (a part originated in Scotland by Sean Gilder). Luka is new to Alcoholics Anonymous and asks the older James to be his sponsor; the drama unfolds on the verge of the confessional stage in AA's 12-step programme, with Luka expected to acknowledge the harm his addiction has done to himself and others.
The play is perceptive about what it means to put your trust not just in another person but also in a programme or organised religion – and how to reconcile what you gain from the exchange with any flaws or failings of that body. Ireland pulls off a tone that is sceptical yet earnest, echoing the sincerity and hangdog humour of the opening song, I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I'm Gonna Be a Diamond Someday), by Johnny Cash, who knew a thing or two about addiction.
That song is warped in the first of several scene transitions, coolly lit by Lizzie Powell, that add off-kilter energy to an in-the-round, interval-free production, stretched as tight as a drum by director Finn den Hertog. The humour ricochets as it did in den Hertog's Square Go, which tussled with younger masculinity, and there is a brilliantly handled apparition of Willem Dafoe as Jesus in a gym (almost Christ on a bike) that recalls the vision of Gerry Adams in infant form in Ireland's unforgettable Cyprus Avenue.
Designer Milla Clarke dresses Luka in hoodie and trainers, James in smart shirt and suede shoes; the younger man is all restless legs and twitching fingers, his sponsor composed and watchful. As ever, Freeman is a master of the perplexed reaction, especially in James's multi-levelled incredulity at the suggestion that, as a married man, he has 'pussy on tap'. When Luka is advised to abstain from his gargantuan appetite for masturbation, Lowden matches Freeman in comic disbelief – his eyes widen in horror at the proposal.
The timing is impeccable throughout but as the tables are turned, and James's behaviour is scrutinised, both give unsettling performances in a drama that specifically interrogates the role of a sponsor yet applies to multiple positions of authority and influence, including parenthood and priesthood. What appears at first to be a predictable plot twist, foreshadowed by a choice bit of dialogue from Raging Bull, swerves into something more psychologically interesting. The anonymous meeting-room set gives no place to hide as the pair, together on stage throughout, go toe to toe. If the violence that eventually erupts is undercharged, the notes of absurdity are perfectly measured and it ends not with a bang but whimsy.
What power do you give another when you put your faith in them? What standards do you hold them to when you seek advice? When does care turn into control? As the questions proliferate and the pair argue over setting boundaries, Ireland continually blurs them in a play that regularly elicits winces. 'Those that are crying will later be laughing,' paraphrases James from the Bible. The reverse is perhaps true for this troubling take on feeling lost and the thorny question of redemption.
At @sohoplace, London, until 26 July