Immediately information
2025-01-23 00:01:00
Sluggish Horses star Jack Lowden is to reprise his function in The Fifth Step, a play about habit, religion and masculinity, in a brand new West Finish manufacturing co-starring Martin Freeman.
Lowden first appeared within the drama, written by David Eire, on the Edinburgh worldwide pageant final yr and drew approval for his efficiency as an alcoholic, Luka, who joins the 12-step programme. The 2-hander starred Sean Gilder as Luka’s older mentor, a component that will likely be performed by Freeman within the manufacturing at @sohoplace in London, operating from 10 Could till 26 July. Finn den Hertog will once more direct.
The play’s title refers back to the a part of the Alcoholics Nameless programme which entails writing down the life experiences which have introduced you disgrace and guilt, and sharing that listing with somebody you belief. “I realised it’s known as The Fifth Step as a result of the entire play is like my fifth step – it’s my confession,” mentioned Eire, who attended AA conferences by his personal experiences of alcoholism and loneliness. The playwright is understood for the controversial black comedies Cyprus Avenue, through which a Belfast loyalist believes his toddler granddaughter to be Gerry Adams, and Ulster American, which probes the movie and theatre industries post-#MeToo. Ulster American was additionally staged on the Edinburgh pageant and had a subsequent London run with Woody Harrelson within the forged.
The Fifth Step, offered by Neal Avenue Productions, Playful Productions and the Nationwide Theatre of Scotland, will likely be staged in-the-round at @sohoplace, a brand new purpose-built venue owned by Nica Burns. It opened in 2022 as a part of a £300m regeneration of the world close to Tottenham Court docket Street station.
Lowden, who starred in a West Finish switch of the Almeida theatre’s Ghosts in 2013 and 2014 earlier than his TV and movie success, mentioned: “To only be within the room once more with David and Finn – two dangerously gifted people – is a present in itself. However to now add Martin to the combo, an actor of black-belt degree ability and a hero of mine, simply tops it.”
Freeman, whose West Finish roles have included Richard III, known as the two-hander a “brilliantly humorous, unsettling, sudden play”. Den Hertog mentioned Eire’s “trademark caustic wit, irreverence and subversiveness are out in full power in The Fifth Step”. The author mentioned he hoped London theatregoers “will discover the play as thrilling and humorous and thought-provoking as audiences in Scotland have”.
