The Fifth Step
After years spent in the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-Step Program, James (Yulian Vergov) becomes a mentor to newcomer Luka (Boyko Krastanov). As they share their similar life experiences, the two gradually grow closer, but when the time comes for Step Five—the confession—dangerous truths begin to surface, threatening their fragile friendship.
The Fifth Step is a bold, gripping, and irresistibly funny new play by David Ireland, which became one of the biggest hits in the United Kingdom in 2025.
Alcoholics Anonymous and Its 12 Steps on a Tightrope
The most difficult of the 12 steps in the Alcoholics Anonymous program is Step Five—the admission of one’s wrongs.
A new member joins the program: the young Luka. He must choose his personal sponsor, a mentor with whom he can take all 12 steps toward lasting recovery.
Luka chooses James as his mentor, but discovers in him an extraordinary, mysterious, and perceptive guide. Two men with the same problem—alcohol—and opposites in every other respect are confronted with a question far more dangerous than alcohol itself: who and what controls our lives, and how far are we allowed to interfere in someone else’s?
The trust between the two rests on a fragile balance, the forces are evenly matched, and the stakes grow ever higher as they approach Step Five.
Is this a cure or a fight for survival? Do we choose our most terrifying enemies ourselves, and do we raise them ourselves? An explosive mixture of subtle humor, bold dialogue on the brink of propriety, and candor that crossed that threshold long ago is captured within the impeccable mathematical logic of David Ireland’s dramaturgy.
_(Vesela Vasileva)_
Team
- Playwright: David Ireland
- Cast: Boyko Krastanov, Yulian Vergov
- Director: Vesela Vasileva
- Set and Costume Design: Elena Ivanova
- Composer: Rosen Zahariev
- Choreographer: Filip Milanov
- Lighting Design: Mariana Khlebnikova
- Poster and Visual Identity: Teodora Simova
- Photographer: Ivan Donchev
- Translation: Radoslav Petkashev
- Production: Quasar Studio
The performance is not recommended for persons under 16.