“The Fifth Step” is an engaging and complex examination of not only masculinity but especially the deeply human process of recovery, faith and accountability through the framework of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).
David Ireland’s gripping two-hander stars multi-award-winning actor, Albert Pretorius and Lyle October. Pretorius was seen at The Baxter in “Othello” and “Hedda Gabler” and has won the Cape Town Theatre Award’s best male actor award for the second year in a row. October was part of the Baxter’s Fires Burning Company, with roles in “Stupid F*cking Bird” and “Neighbourhood”.
“The Fifth Step” follows James (played by Pretorius), an AA veteran who has managed to stay clean for years, as he takes on the responsibility of mentoring a volatile newcomer named Luka (October).
What begins as a standard mentorship, quickly evolves into a complex psychological chess match. As Luka edges closer to the programme’s pivotal fifth step - which demands a total, unvarnished confession of past wrongs to another person - the boundaries between sponsor and sponsee begins to blur. Hidden secrets and deep-seated traumas come to light, forcing both men to confront the fragile nature of their own sobriety.
The dark comedy is transplanted from the West End in London to The Baxter under the direction of the award-winning Charmaine Weir-Smith (“Expelled”, “The Beauty Queen of Leenane”), with Wolf Britz on set and lighting design and Marisa Steenkamp on costume.
After witnessing Pretorius walk away with both an award for comedy and dramatic lead performance at the Silwerskerm Awards, there was a valid expectation that he was going to deliver a stellar performance.
In a surprise to no one, he does just that; skilfully walking the line between the comedy and dramatic moments that are required for him to execute. If you have only seen him in “Die Kantoor” and have yet to see him tackle a different type of performance, this is a must-see.
What came as a pleasant surprise was the performance of October. It is clear that October is learning to truly command his space as a performer, and trust his craft, but that being said he is immensely talented and is someone to watch out for in coming years.
There is a moment when October has the tough task of having to start a scene summoning up explosive energy, which has to fill up the whole theatre space. Second prior he had just placed a table down during a manual scene change.
A basic way to describe this would be: you are having a casual conversation in the car, then suddenly exploding into road rage, but without having anything that causes that feeling of rage within an individual.
He manages to pull that off and keep that frenetic energy within the scene which easily could have flopped.
The “Fifth Step” is solid and brutal play, but it has its flaws. It requires both the performers to really commit. There are moments which are dialogue heavy, and are intertwined with emotional tension, but there is not always a clear path for the actors to chart their performance on how they will execute those moments.
The use of pop culture and hip hop references within the play feels like a shortcut in doing the work of writing thoughtful subtext and injecting the material with themes from the references Ireland uses.
Ireland incorporates a reference from Martin Scorsese's "Raging Bull" which comes back in the third act, and it is "subtle" but it feels like a shortcut to writing something nuanced which could achieve the same goal.
Personally, there are moments of this production that really work, and others that almost work but just fall short. This could be due to several factors, but the main one may be staging.
While I was sitting in the front row with an extreme close-up of the action, I benefitted from constantly seeing the actors faces, and understanding their characters' internal feelings.
Even the physical action came with extreme clarity.
For someone who is sitting at the back of the theatre or even in a different section, they may be missing some of that by only seeing the backs of the actors, or missing physical movement, without understanding how a character is feeling.
I overheard one person say, “I felt nothing” after leaving the show, as chatter and conversation about the play commenced. I, however, had a more riveting experience watching the play.
The show will definitely benefit from something they unfortunately cannot rush - time. The actors need time to have the show live within them.
October and Pretorius have separate moments in the third act of the play, where each of their characters are meant to be tearful and there were no visible tears.
If you have listened to any actor speak, they will tell you that on some nights you just cannot get there emotionally and just have to fake it. They both do a convincing job of still making those fraught scenes believable, but it does mean that the audience is a little disconnected from the emotion the scenes require.
Director Charmaine Weir-Smith said: “This is an extraordinary piece of writing that keeps the audience suspended between a laugh and a gasp. It provides a rare, unsentimental look at the messy reality of seeking redemption. Having Albert and Lyle bring these complex characters to life is going to make for unforgettable theatre.”
While I may disagree with the use of the word 'extraordinary', I do recommend watching this show because it deserves to be seen. I feel that by the time it shows inches closer to the end of its run, it will likely be where the stars align, and the show will feel electric.
I also would like for this show to be revisited in a future run, maybe four years from now, and see what October and Pretorius do with their characters again.
“The Fifth Step” has an age restriction of 16+ due to mature themes and strong language and parental guidance is advised. The show will run until from 3 to 26 September 2026 at 8pm, Tuesdays to Saturdays, with a Saturday matinee at 3pm.
Booking is now open via Webtickets online or at Pick n Pay stores.
theolin.tembo@nationalmg.co.za