The National Theatre of Scotland rarely disappoints. This year it has provided what is probably the finest drama in the Edinburgh Festival programme.
The Fifth Step written by David Ireland is all that theatre should be – a taut script, cracking dialogue, irreverent humour, pathos, bathos, the absurd and the filthy, coincidence and counterpoint.
A recovering alcoholic and his sponsor interact over a period of time leading to the Alcoholics Anonymous Fifth Step of total honesty and confession, and in that time attitudes shift, beliefs crumble, and the two characters turn almost full circle on their certainties and confidence. That the two characters Luka and James are played by Jack Lowden and Sean Gilder respectively means it’s practically pitch perfect.
Add in Milla Clarke’s revolving stage to turn things around, and Lizzie Powell’s occasionally fizzing lighting to “strip” away the characters’ viewpoints. This is a serious play with lots of laugh out loud over the top humour.
At 90 minutes with no interval, the bar takings might have been down, but it is absolutely right to see this two-hander with no interruption.
Directed by Finn Den Hertog, the play is at Glasgow’s Pavilion Theatre till the end of the month. After that? I do hope a National Theatre tour beckons.
*****