✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we send newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Support Us Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Shopping
  • CW SHOPS
  • Support Us
  • Get Started
  • Tickets
  • CW SHOPS
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Theatre

The Master Builder, The Old Vic review ★★★★★

23 Jan 16 – 19 Mar 16, 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM

Ralph Fiennes masters Ibsen's tragic hero in playwright David Hare's thrilling but frigid adaptation at the Old Vic

By Lucy Brooks on 5/2/2016

16 CW readers are interested
Ralph Fiennes: Master Builder, photo courtesy of Old Vic Theatre
Ralph Fiennes: Master Builder, photo courtesy of Old Vic Theatre
The Master Builder, The Old Vic review 3 The Master Builder, The Old Vic review Lucy Brooks
The Master Builder review: Culture Whisper says ★★★★★


Henrik Ibsen's tragic tale of obsession and guilt takes its place in the Old Vic new season with David Hare’s new adaptation of The Master Builder.


Architect Halvard Solness is at the top of his game. But his obsession with building ‘real homes for real families’ is undercut by the desolation of his own house, with three empty nurseries and an icy marriage. And his professional success is freighted by the fear of the being usurped by the next generation.


Ralph Fiennes is masterful in the title role. First he’s haughty and oppressive, criticising his apprentice and tormenting his wife. Then Hilde, a young girl from his past, (played luminously by Sarah Snook) breezes in, fresh from the mountains and brimming with mystical images of princesses and trolls. The architect’s foundations are smashed. Fiennes slides from control to crisis with agonising tension.


With complex, overlapping themes of duty, desire, fear, freedom and religion, Ibsen’s writing is saturated with significance and depth. Hare’s adaption strikes a thrilling balance between the intense realism of family tragedy and the mystical metaphors of demons, trolls and little devils masterminding the human behaviour. The staging and Matthew Warchus's production keeps the text and actors at the forefront. Two intervals reflect Ibsen's three part structure.


But the result feels academic rather than human. This a play that was inspired by Ibsen’s own obsession with a young girl he met on holiday, and the raw humanity of that sexual obsession is sucked out of the text. The relationship between Hilde and Solness, her memories of being kissed age 13 and her intense influence on him 10 years later, feels curiously abstract. So that final, tragic decline doesn't have the emotional lurch it should. There's much to fascinate, but not as much to really move you.



by Lucy Brooks

What The Master Builder, The Old Vic review
Where The Old Vic, The Cut, London, SE1 8NB | MAP
Nearest tube Waterloo (underground)
When 23 Jan 16 – 19 Mar 16, 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM
Price £12 - £60
Website Click here to book via The Old Vic



Most popular

Things to do in London this weekend: 27–29 January
Things to do in London this weekend: 27–29 January
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London (Photograph: Peter Lewicki)
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London, 2023
Culture After Dark: The Best Museum Late Night Openings
Culture After Dark: the best museum late-night openings

A little more...


  • SPECTACULAR SHOWS

    What to see: the best theatre in London

    PINTER AT THE OLD VIC

    Timothy Spall stars in revival of Pinter's taut three-hander The Caretaker

    CULTURE HACKS

    The very best deals and schemes making culture cheap for young Londoners

What members say

    Amazing actors! Just great.

    rose Beauduin

Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).

We recommend nearby

  • The Anchor & Hope, Borough

    This British gastropub venue boasts cosy comforts, a wood-panelled dining and original artwork that is available to buy. The reliable and thoughtful seasonal menu may feature rabbit with mustard sauce and excellent chips, or steamed Scottish cod fillet and spinach. Tables can only be booked in advance in person at the bar, so it is worth arriving early to snare a reservation.

    Read more...
    Book Map
16

Revival

Ralph Fiennes

Old Vic 2016

Reviews

You might like

  • Tim Minchin's Groundhog Day musical returns to London

    Tim Minchin's ★★★★★ Groundhog Day musical returns to London

  • Kenneth Branagh - photo by Johan Persson

    The Entertainer, Garrick Theatre review ★★★★★

  • Matthew Perry play: The End of Longing, London 2016

    The End of Longing, Playhouse Theatre

  • Brian Friel, Faith Healer, Donmar Warehouse revival 2016

    Faith Healer, Donmar Warehouse



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • Support Us
  • Tickets
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×