The Fifth Step - Paperback

by David Ireland (Author)

Nominated for Best New Play at the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards 2026

The point is to divest yourself of shame. Anything that'll make you pick up a drink in the future. It's about getting clean.

After many years in the 12-step programme of Alcoholics Anonymous, James agrees to become the sponsor of newcomer Luka.

On the journey to sobriety, the pair bond over black coffee, trade stories, and build a fragile friendship out of their shared experiences.

On the cusp of Step 5, their conversations must turn to confessionals, with progress hinging on Luka revealing secrets that could lead back to alcohol. But it's clear that James also has dangerous truths in his past, truths that threaten the trust on which both their recoveries depend.

David Ireland's The Fifth Step is a provocative, entertaining and subversively funny new play.

This revised and updated edition was published to coincide with the @sohoplace production in May 2025, after its premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival.

Author Biography

David Ireland is from Belfast and trained as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. His first play, WHAT THE ANIMALS SAY, was produced at Oran Mor, Glasgow in 2009. His other plays include EVERYTHING BETWEEN US (Tinderbox, Belfast) which won the Stewart Parker Award and the Meyer-Whitworth Award, THE END OF HOPE (Oran Mor), HALF A GLASS OF WATER (Field Day), YES SO I SAID YES (Ransom Productions, Belfast), CAN'T FORGET ABOUT YOU (Lyric, Belfast) and I PROMISE YOU SEX AND VIOLENCE (Northern Stage, Newcastle). In 2015, he adapted Lorca's BLOOD WEDDING for Dundee Rep and Graeae. His 2016 play CYPRUS AVENUE (Royal Court London/Abbey Theatre Dublin/Public Theatre NYC) won the Irish Times Award for Best New Play and the James Tait Black Award for Drama and in 2018 ULSTER AMERICAN (Traverse, Edinburgh) won a Scotsman Fringe First, the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh award and the Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland Award for Best New Play. He lives in Glasgow with his wife Jennifer and his children Ada and Elijah.