About the Show

Ewan McGregor & Elizabeth Debicki star in this Ibsen-inspired study of the ghosts of past decisions.

Set in the Hamptons on the eve of July 4th, My Master Builder explores the unraveling of a marriage on the brink. Elena Solness, a powerful publishing magnate, is preparing a lavish party to honour her husband, Henry, an acclaimed architect revealing his latest masterpiece. But their celebration is thrown into chaos by the arrival of Mathilde, a former student of Henry’s with whom he shares a complex past. As tensions rise, buried truths emerge, and the evening spirals into an emotionally charged reckoning for all involved.

Written by American playwright and screenwriter Lila Raicek, this new play is inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s The Master Builder, reimagined in a contemporary setting. Directed by Olivier Award-winning director Michael Grandage, the cast is led by Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge!) and Elizabeth Debicki (The Crown, The Night Manager), alongside Kate Fleetwood, David Ajala, and Mirren Mack. The production marks McGregor’s return to the London stage after 17 years.

Critic Reviews (9)

"My Master Builder is seductive to the eye throughout, but...metaphorically speaking, to the emotional well, this study in "the tragic wreckage of the past" exerts insufficient hold over the present."
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"Ewan McGregor struggles to raise the roof in his stage return"
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"The reworking doesn’t work. As the evening progresses, it becomes so weird and distancing that it is hard to care about its outcome."
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"This play boasts a glib, howlingly pretentious script and a drippy central character in McGregor’s architect Henry Solness"
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"Raicek’s interpretation is bracing enough to make you forget the production’s flimsier aspects."
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"you’re left wondering how this play made it to the West End, and why Grandage and McGregor decided to take a gamble on it."
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"There are moments of great intensity, mostly in the scenes featuring Fleetwood, and real candescence to the writing at its best."
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"a tightly plotted, well-acted piece that holds the audience’s attention throughout, and while Grandage has ensured each character maintains a distinct voice, it always feels like the foundations are a little too shaky. My Master Builder is not the most radical interpretation of Ibsen, but it is an homage to the original, while constructing its own identity"
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Cast and creative team