The Master Builder

Nov 17, 2024 10:32 AM

Author:Henrik Ibsen,David Schofield,Laura Aikman,Siobhan Redmond,Paul Bradley,Jonathan Tafler,Joseph Ayre,Shannon Hayes,Full Cast

The Master Builder

The Master Builderby Henrik Ibsen, in a new version by David Hare

Master builder Halvard Solness is a self-made man. With no professional qualifications, he has built himself up through ruthless ambition, and achieved a position of power and domination in his home town. But his success has come at a cost. His marriage is empty, destroyed by a personal tragedy that has left him wracked with guilt and pain, and he is increasingly frightened of failure and being displaced by the next generation.

Then a mysterious young woman, Hilde Wangel, appears from the mountains, claiming to have met Solness ten years earlier, when she was only 13. She asserts that he kissed her and promised her a kingdom: and now she has returned to claim it. Halvard becomes besotted with Hilde, seeing her as a breath of fresh air, revitalising his life with her youthful energy. And Hilde flatters and praises him, rebuilding his ego. But has she come to seduce him - or to destroy him?

With mystical undertones and resonances for the #MeToo movement, this searing tragedy of middle-aged male hubris explores the troubled psyche of a successful, abusive man who has risen to the greatest heights, only to be toppled from his peak. David Schofield stars as Solness, with Siobhan Redmond as his wife Aline andLaura Aikman as Hilde.

Also included is a bonus programme, In Our Time: Henrik Ibsen, in which Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the great Norwegian playwright and poet.

Cast and credits

Solness - David Schofield

Aline - Siobhan Redmond

Hilde - Laura Aikman

Brovik - Paul Bradley

Dr Herdal - Jonathan Tafler

Kaja - Shannon Hayes

Ragnar - Joseph Ayre

The Master Builder by Henrik Ibsen

In a new version by David Hare

Based on a literal translation by Torkil Heggstad

Directed and produced by Gary Brown

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 15-22 August 2021

In Our Time: Henrik Ibsen

Presented by Melvyn Bragg

With Tore Rem, Kirsten Shepherd-Barr and Dinah Birch

Produced by Simon Tillotson

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 31 May 2018

Reviews

An uplifting journey through the sheer hard work, pitfalls and thrills of navigating a great rock band to the pinnacle of success. I so enjoyed the ride!

—— Roger Taylor

Captures the early days of the "English bands" and their story. The ups and downs, relationships, craziness and fun... This really happened!

—— Mike Rutherford

A wry and witty account of life in one of the world's biggest and unlikeliest supergroups and the music industry in its heyday... John Illsley is a charming, amusing and observant companion.

—— Mariella Frostrup

Frank, funny and tender. If you loved their music, you'll adore this book.

—— Nicholas Evans

Fans will be mesmerized.

—— Publishers Weekly

Eye-popping revelations [...] Will Smith bares all about his childhood and life

—— Sun

The book is awesome. So candid and considered...fascinating.

—— Chris Evans , Virgin Radio

Devastating, wise, hilarious and original

—— Róisín Ingle

A terrific book . . . absolutely brilliant

—— Brendan O'Connor

O'Connor gets you onside so completely with her direct narrative, you feel you could be in the same room as her

—— Sunday Times

Rememberings offers O'Connor's very personal version of events, a tale of maternal and institutional abuse that might be a misery memoir, if it weren't related with such eccentric charm and cheery fortitude

—— Daily Telegraph

From wild youth to troubled adulthood, this memoir is a blast of chaos

—— Times

Utterly brilliant

—— Paul Howard

Astonishing. Staggering

—— Rob Delaney

Superb . . . fantastic

—— Irish Daily Star

Beautifully written

—— VIP

Honest and illuminating

—— Irish Independent

Rememberings is an electrifying reminder of the importance of [O'Connor's] voice

—— Business Post

O'Connor brings everything to this memoir

—— Financial Times

Incendiary

—— i

Astonishingly good, wise and hilarious

—— Louise Nealon

Candid, open-hearted . . . a lot of self-deprecation, a lot of laughs, and a measure of honesty that would put most of us to shame

—— Anglo-Celt

Genuinely incredible . . . [Rememberings is] suffused with humour and forgiveness

—— Guardian

There's nothing conventional about Sinéad O'Connor and there's little conventional about her memoir either. . . She writes with searing honesty and plenty of wit

—— Independent

Her complicated life makes for riveting reading. From ripping up photographs of the Pope on prime time US television and her mental health struggles to a rollercoaster spiritual quest, she has never been afraid to be fearless

—— iNews

A deliciously decadent tale of sex, tragedy, celebrity, surfboards and tanned skin in 1980s Malibu.

—— The Times

I absolutely loved her book.... It's an absolute blast to read

—— Alice- Azania Jarvis

JACKIE COLLINS, BUT BETTER Sacrilege to say "better", I know, but there we are. Set in the 1980s, Taylor Jenkins Reid's Malibu Rising is wonderfully written, intensely evocative and concerns the model/ surfer children of a rock star. Tons of glamour, tons of sharply observed insights about sibling relationships, plus a massive party. Beach read par excellence. See also her brilliant Daisy Jones & the Six, which is heaven (more rock stars).

—— Anonymous

When we picked up Malibu Rising, the new novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, we could barely put it down

—— That's Life

You'll never want this book to end, it will suck you in and spit you out!

—— Muddy Stilettos

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