My Master Builder at Wyndham’s: Grand Ideas, Weak Foundations

My Master Builder | Wyndham’s Theatre until 12th July

Lila Raicek’s West End debut, My Master Builder, arrives with big names and high hopes. Directed by Michael Grandage and starring Ewan McGregor, Kate Fleetwood and Elizabeth Debicki, it relocates Ibsen’s Norwegian tale to a glamorous New Hamptons estate in upstate New York.

On paper, it promises wit, power plays and a fresh lens on infidelity. Sadly, in execution, it often feels overblown, muddled and surprisingly uninvolving.

This is at the same theatre where I saw Robert Icke’s Oedipus, which was an absolutely stunning reworking and updating of the Greek tragedy, and I went into this hoping that it would be something similar. Sadly, I’m afraid only the word tragedy applies to it!

This is not a new translation of the Ibsen original – rather a riff or interpretation using the original as a starting point. Raicek keeps the architect angle – Henry Solness (McGregor) still battles vertigo and ambition – but dumps the Nordic gloom for manicured lawns and July 4th fireworks of the exclusive Hamptons just outside of New York. It is apparently partly inspired by a dinner she was invited to at the Hamptons as the guest of an eminent British couple, where she found herself embroiled in some psychosexual games between the two. This sounds very intriguing and full of possibilities; however, the result is something like a soap opera with pretentious ambitions!

Elena (Fleetwood) is no simple housewife, but a hard-nosed publisher. Mathilde (Debicki) has grown into a savvy novelist who once adored Henry as a teen. Yet in moving the plot, the play loses its tension. The marriage cracks under secrets, but the twists stretch credulity. Why invite an ex-lover to dinner a decade after wrecking her life? And why parachute in a rival architect when the father–son thread once carried Ibsen’s weight? Instead, we have David Ajala as Ragnar in some extremely tight budgie smugglers!

It is admirable to give the female characters more agency and more voice, as in the original Ibsen play the wife is a doting character in the background. However, in doing so, it reduces McGregor’s character – whilst still a “starchitect” – to a cipher at the centre of the play spouting lines such as “the unspoken fantasy between us” and “the bright stars and the dark tunnel of my love.” I’m puzzled as to what attracted him to this role to make his return to the stage in nearly 16 years.

The women, particularly Kate Fleetwood, can make this arch, sub-poetic dialogue at least sound naturalistic and somewhat believable. Unfortunately, McGregor can’t, and he’s left with a non-part and to just spout some lines; it doesn’t feel remotely believable.

Why Grandage, who is one of our great directors, picked this particular play from an unknown playwright is beyond me. Whilst she has written for TV such as Gossip Girl, and has had various workshops of plays and other plays in development, she has never had a play fully produced. I am all for giving new talent opportunities – but this does no one any favours. There are some unkind and unsubstantiated comments that her privileged background and financial status may have had something to do with it!

The set is fabulous – a wonderful abstract Plexiglas design that conjures the landscape of the Hamptons. The lighting is equally brilliant, creating the special light of the region that is said to be similar to Cornwall. It is just what happens in front of it that I had the problem with!

Raicek retains Ibsen’s original ending, McGregor atop the tower of his refurbished church, adding vertigo-inducing 4th of July fireworks. However, in a tired cliché, his last word, which produced gasps from some of the audience, produced only giggles in me, I’m afraid!

My Master Builder boasts a fine cast and glossy design. It aims for high drama but falls way short. If you want to see McGregor in person in a pretentious soap opera, this will do. If you crave real drama, tension and stimulation, you may leave unmoved.

This was a major disappointment – this builder’s foundations felt very shaky.

For more honest, intelligent theatre reviews from across London’s stages, check out our Arts & Culture section at EyeOnLondon. We cover bold debuts, big-name returns and everything in between. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this one – have your say in the comments.

[Image Credit: Johan Persson]

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