Writer: Lila Raicek
Director: Michael Grandage
Lila Raicek’s My Master Builder is no mere adaptation of Ibsen’s classic. It’s a zingy, fast-paced, original play in its own right. It looks to Ibsen’s classic for its structural architecture, taking place in a single day when famous architect Henry Solness unveils his masterly reconstruction of an old whaler’s church in the Hamptons. And, like Ibsen’s original, it’s a meditation on the power of architecture itself to embody dreams and memories.
But what Raicek does so adroitly is to expose the uncomfortable power dynamics of the original. Rather than the grotesquely egotistical Halvard, to whom all three women are in thrall, Raicek reimagines the female characters as self-determining and confident. Now it is Henry’s wife, the furious Elena, who wields the power, savouring her intention to serve Henry divorce papers as he basks in glory. As a character, she is vengeful, bitter and oh so fascinating, miles away from Ibsen’s suffering Aline. But there is a sympathetic connection between the two characters, both grieving the loss of their children years before.
The lovesick Kaja, Halvard’s devoted amanuensis, is also rewritten with new strength and purpose. This Kaia (Mirren Mack) may be underappreciated personal assistant to Elena, but her power lies in her knowledge of secrets. Not least of these is her secret affair with Elena’s sometime lover, Ragnar (a comically camp performance by David Ajala). Admittedly, there are times when these secrets feel dangerously close to convenient plot devices, as does the farcical scene in which she spies on Elena as she tries to seduce Ragnar. But in general, the pleasing pace of the production, briskly directed by Michael Grandage, allows us to devour the plot twists without being overly critical.
At the heart of Ibsen’s play is a past relationship. To Ibsen’s Halvard, his dalliance ten years before with the shockingly young Hilde was just an opportunistic, long-forgotten flirtation. Hilde, now 22, reveals she has lived out the last decade waiting for Halvard to come to claim his ‘princess’. In Raicek’s reimagining, Matilde is older – she’d been an adoring undergraduate when she fell under Henry’s spell. But the power imbalance is still resonant, to which another suggestive echo is added with Elena’s revelation that she, too, had been seduced by a literature professor. By revealing that Henry, in this iteration, had been equally in love with Matilde, Raicek is able to suggest his underlying weakness. It is less his terrible fear of Oedipal challenge from younger architects, as Ibsen shows, more his tendency to shy away from real emotions.
Ewan McGregor is splendid as Henry, not just in his physical energy but in the real power he wields with language. Raickek shows glimpses of him addressing his public with gorgeously poetic language: oratory at its most seductive. At the same time, there’s a nice shaft of irony when he’s caught alone, self-consciously rehearsing. Playing opposite him as Matilde, Elizabeth Debicki is coolly compelling. But it is probably Kate Fleetwood as Elena who really carries the show, radiating fierce energy.
Raicek has impressive experience writing for television and film, but this is her debut play for stage. For this reason, she must be forgiven certain awkwardnesses. It’s tricky to know what to do with Halvard’s teasing of the child Hilde as his ‘troll’. But Raicek’s substitution of ‘gonk’ is wrong on every count. And although My Master Builder carries us along with its rapid storytelling, in retrospect it feels overly stuffed with plot contrivances and back stories.
Richard Kent’s set is a thing of wonder, the small stage at Wyndham’s becoming either a soothing window out on ocean and dunes or a clever suggestion of cathedral-like architecture. Paule Constable’s lighting subtly captures the changing colours of the sea and the sky. Later, the fireworks of the finale are magically suggested – important to a text that is full of images of fire.
Now, a sharp exploration of women and empowerment, My Master Builder, in its comedy and drive, is an exhilarating show.
Booking until 12 July 2025
