Two men conducting a Fifth Step is the equivalent of two men in a darkened room trying to put on a mankini and retain their dignity whilst hoping nobody finds the light switch. David Ireland has perfectly captured that series of absurd, illuminating, desperate, embarrassing and liberating moments which lead up to and run far away from that event.
Jack Lowden plays Luka pitch-perfectly. He understands the dichotomy and the fear which comes from the confusion of God in AA, never mind Gay AA, which takes him to Christianity, a MILF and then a gay experience which is captured in the confusing rage followed by shame and guilt.
But the real carrier of this is Sean Gilder. In an interview before they opened, he spoke of how he felt that people would laugh a lot and gasp. And they do. The funny bits are funny, but the seething anger and appallingly thrown insults are very, very real. An older member of the fellowship appointing himself the carrier of the message whilst he has resentments, guilt, secrets and still to make amends opens up huge parts of the process to examination.
Gilder captures that in James, who begins as the guide but, over time, exposes himself and his sponsee to the real man who has this hidden degree of ego, self-loathing and hatred that he is struggling to let go. When he does—then come the gasps. When he does, then comes the real man. When he does, toxic masculinity be damned; this is the discourse in his head being given voice. It is a build up of years of denial—not a river in Egypt.
Ireland has chosen not to take the easy route and give us the narrative of meetings and their inner workings, to delve into the other relationships that come with sobriety. Concentrating on a relationship which does not appear in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous but has been an invention, some might say of control, makes this about the messiness of the human connection. With Lowden and Gilder, he has two craftspeople.
But he has one other, at least upon which to draw. Director Fin den Hertog has again managed to prove the vitality he brings to a Scottish stage. Keeping the narrative in focus and with the vision of a revolving set, he has brought a light touch but a respect for the words on the page. Both actors have pedigrees which could be daunting but equal to the task; den Hertog manages them with skill. And hats off to set designer Milla Clarke.
There are some within AA who shall dislike this and hold an ironic resentment against it—they may be the ones in the mankinis. It may be too close to home for some, but that is what vital theatre should be. This asks questions and, rather than being any kind of advert or any kind of exposé, it is precisely what it needs to be. In the week that drugs deaths have been announced as being on the rise, this is a vital addition to the debate, which is authentic, real and very entertaining. Some might say, I might even need a meeting after that…