The Fifth Step

Love him or hate, caustic Northern Irish playwright David Ireland is certainly a thing, and a year after an ultra-starry revival of his Ulster English at the Riverside Studios, here’s his West End debut proper. Having debuted on a brief tour of Scotland last summer, The Fifth Step sees Jack Lowden of Slow Horses fame reprise the role of Luka, a recovering alcoholic searching for a sponsor. Amping up the star power for in 2025, Martin Freeman will play James, the deeply flawed individual who Luka ends up falling in with. Both of them are forced to comfront their uncomfortable pasts. Finn den Hertog again directs.