JACK LOWDEN AND MARTIN FREEMAN’S ACCLAIMED THE FIFTH STEP PREMIERES ONLINE WORLDWIDE
Jack Lowden and Martin Freeman’s critically acclaimed West End hit The Fifth Step is making its worldwide online premiere, bringing David Ireland’s darkly funny and provocative play to audiences around the globe for the first time.
Following a sold-out run at Soho Place, the production is now streaming on National Theatre at Home, giving audiences the chance to see two of Britain’s most celebrated actors go head-to-head in the gripping two-hander.
Photo Credit: Martin Freeman and Jack Lowden, Johan Persson II
Written by David Ireland and directed by Finn den Hertog, The Fifth Step follows James (Martin Freeman), a long-standing member of Alcoholics Anonymous, who becomes sponsor to newcomer Luka (Jack Lowden).
Over black coffee, the pair begin trading stories and form an unlikely friendship through their shared experiences of addiction and recovery. But as Luka approaches the fifth step of the programme, the moment when he must admit the exact nature of his wrongs — uncomfortable truths begin to emerge, putting their relationship and recoveries under pressure.
Combining sharp humour with increasingly dark revelations, the 90-minute play explores addiction, faith, masculinity, shame and the complicated relationship between confession and forgiveness.
The production brings together Olivier Award-winner Jack Lowden, known for Slow Horses and Dunkirk, and BAFTA-winner Martin Freeman, whose screen credits include The Hobbit, Sherlock and The Responder.
Photo Credit: Martin Freeman and Jack Lowden, Johan Persson II
Freeman described The Fifth Step as “one of the real pleasures of my career thus far”, praising the play as surprising, moving and very funny, while Lowden called the production a “mad fast, quick-witted beautiful piece”.
Originally presented by the National Theatre of Scotland in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow in 2024, The Fifth Step subsequently transferred to London for a sold-out West End run at Soho Place.
Filmed live in the theatre’s intimate in-the-round setting, it was released in cinemas through National Theatre Live in November 2025 and now makes its digital premiere on National Theatre at Home.
The production is presented by Neal Street Productions, Playful Productions and National Theatre of Scotland, in association with Nica Burns.
National Theatre at Home, which launched in 2020, now offers more than 100 productions to audiences around the world, with new titles added each month.
The Fifth Step is available to stream on National Theatre at Home