THE FIFTH STEP

"Bristling with playwright David Ireland’s signature style of knotty provocation and ribald comedy” The Guardian

This darkly hilarious two-hander about a young man and his Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor stars Erik Thomson (Aftertaste, Packed to the Rafters) and Ashan Kumar (Amber, Daytime Deewane) in the Australian premiere production of the West End runaway success.

Director Kenneth Moraleda (4000 Miles) skilfully excavates the faultlines that appear after Luka (Kumar) asks the older James (Thomson) to sponsor him. James starts preparing Luka for the fifth step, the confessional stage in the AA program, but rigorous honesty is harder than it looks, and James has secrets of his own.

James counsels Luka against hanging out with his old friends, and the younger man begins smarting at the control James exerts over his life and relationships. For his part, James is surprised to discover that Luka has undergone a religious conversion and thinks he bumped into Jesus in the gym. Or was it Willem Dafoe? As trust falters and resentment mounts, the men inch ever closer to outright war.

As entertaining as it is acute about power and authority, The Fifth Step is “taut, funny and richly compassionate” (Financial Times).