The Fifth Step | September 28 | Sofia

Watch Boyko Krastanov and Julian Vergov in "The Fifth Step". September 28 at Teatro on the other side of the canal.

After years spent in the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous, James becomes a mentor to newcomer Luka. As they share their similar life experiences, the two gradually grow closer, but when the moment for the Fifth Step – the confession – arrives, dangerous truths begin to surface that threaten their fragile friendship.

"The Fifth Step" is a bold, engaging, and irresistibly funny new play by David Ireland, which became one of the big hits in the UK in 2025.

📍 September 28, 19:30, Teatro on the other side of the canal
🎟️ Tickets at https://tinyurl.com/z72x43b6

Alcoholics Anonymous and their 12 steps on a tightrope
The most difficult of the 12 steps in the Alcoholics Anonymous program – this is the Fifth Step – the confessions.

A new member arrives in the Program – young Luka. He must choose his personal mentor – a guide – with whom to walk all 12 steps to his complete recovery.

Luka chooses James as his mentor, but in him, he chooses an extraordinary, mysterious, and insightful guide. Two men with the same problem – alcohol – and opposite in every other way – are faced with a question far more dangerous than alcohol – who and what controls our life and how far can we intervene in someone else's. The trust between them rests on a fragile balance, the forces are equal, and the stakes become higher as they reach the Fifth Step.

Is this healing or a survival duel, do we not choose our most terrifying enemies ourselves, and do we not raise them ourselves? An explosive mix of subtle humor, bold dialogue on the brink of propriety, and candor that has long crossed that threshold, fall into the impeccable mathematical logic of David Ireland's dramaturgy.
(Vesela Vasileva)

Author: David Ireland
Featuring: Boyko Krastanov, Julian Vergov
Director: Vesela Vasileva
Set and costumes: Elena Ivanova
Composer: Rosen Zakhariev
Choreographer: Filip Milanov
Poster and vision: Teodora Simova
Photographer: Ivan Donchev
Lighting design: Mariana Khlebnikova
Translation: Radoslav Petkashev
Production: Quasar Studio

The performance is not recommended for persons under 16 years old.