A Master Builder

Henrik Ibsen, Wallace Shawn

• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781559364492
• eBook ISBN: 9781559367561
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: American Drama
• Index: Literature

"Wallace Shawn is one of the most complex and uncompromising moralists of the American theater." - Ben Brantley, New York Times

"At once the U.S.'s most profound and overlooked playwright." - David Hare

This translation and adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's Master Builder Solness by Wallace Shawn, a writer known for his own bleakly hilarious and provocative plays, was used by legendary director André Gregory during fifteen years of work on a theatrical production which, instead of being produced as a play, was made into a film by Jonathan Demme—a film that is an utterly contemporary vision of Ibsen's classic play.

Production History

André Gregory’s production of A Master Builder was not done in a theater (at least, as of 2014 it has not been done), but instead it was made into a film with the following cast:

Nurse Olga: Sheilagh Weymouth

Nurse Nora: Joanna Howard

Nurse Myrtle: Winsome Brown

Nurse Ingrid: Marjorie Graham

Nurse Number Five/Hilde Wangel: Lisa Joyce

Halvard Solness: Wallace Shawn

Aline Solness: Julie Hagerty

Knut Brovik: André Gregory

Ragnar Brovik: Jeff Biehl

Kaya Fosli: Emily Cass McDonnell

Dr. Herdal: Larry Pine

Created and directed for the stage by: André Gregory

Assistant to the director: David Skeist

Norwegian expertise and wisdom: Sandra Saari

Profound thanks: George Gaynes, David Shapiro, Leslie Silva, Brooke Smith

Music for the nurses: Bruce Odland

Supplementary acting: Leigh Wade

The film was presented by The Ibsen Project/Clinica Estetico in association with Westward Productions and Scott Griffin

Costumes: Dona Granata

Music: Zafer Tawil, Thom O’Connor, Suzana Perić

Production Design: Eugene Lee

Editor: Tim Squyres, A.C.E.

Director of Photography: Declan Quinn, A.S.C.

Co-Executive Producers: Caroline Baron, Anthony Weintraub, Annette Solakoglu, Kemal Solakoglu

Executive Producers: Ron Bozman, Beau Willimon, Jordan Tappis, Declan Quinn, Scott Griffin

Associate Producer: Jacob Burns Film Center

Produced by Rocco Caruso, André Gregory, Wallace Shawn

Screenplay: Wallace Shawn

Director: Jonathan Demme

Cast of Characters

NURSE OLGA

NURSE NORA

NURSE MYRTLE

NURSE INGRID

NURSE NUMBER FIVE (later HILDE WANGEL)

HALVARD SOLNESS

ALINE SOLNESS

KNUT BROVIK

RAGNAR BROVIK

KAYA FOSLI

DR. HERDAL

Note

Nurse Olga, Nurse Nora, Nurse Myrtle and Nurse Ingrid later become women of the town. They may also possibly serve as stage managers and stage hands, they may operate the lights, etc.

PART ONE

Some chairs, a small table and a tall, mechanical hospital-style bed, with a footstool at the side. In the bed is a man of late middle age. He is attached by tubes and wires to an IV and a monitor. He wears a bathrobe. There are five nurses in uniforms who are taking care of the man in the bed, and for a while we watch a quiet, dimly lit tableau in which they slowly take notes on the readings of the monitor, carry in different medicine bottles and remove others, etc.

NURSE OLGA (To the other nurses): Well, I’m never wrong about these things, and I say he has hardly any time left at all.

NURSE NORA: Really?

NURSE MYRTLE: He seems so healthy . . .

NURSE OLGA: No, no. The signs are there. Look.

NURSE NORA: Oh.

NURSE MYRTLE: I see.

NURSE INGRID: I hadn’t realized . . .

NURSE NUMBER FIVE: Does he know?

NURSE OLGA: Well, no one’s said anything to him, but deep down I think he does know. Here— (She gives a glass to Nurse Number Five) —give him this if he wakes up.

(Nurse Olga exits, followed by Nurse Nora, Nurse Myrtle and Nurse Ingrid. The patient wakes up, and Nurse Number Five hands him the glass.)

NURSE NUMBER FIVE: Here.

(The patient takes the glass, drinks, looks at Nurse Number Five, then falls back to sleep. A middle-aged woman comes in and sits in a chair by the bed. Then an elderly man, a young man and a young woman come in and sit in chairs on a different side of the bed. Nurse Number Five does a couple of things around the bed and goes out. The actor who plays Dr. Herdal comes in and speaks to the audience.)

ACTOR: Good evening, friends. Thank you for coming to see us. Now, in order to prevent hours of confusion, I’m going to tell you who all these people are, before we begin the play, and I’ll start by telling you that the person in the bed is called Halvard Solness. Halvard Solness is what is called a “master builder,” which is sort of midway between being an architect and being what we would call a builder or contractor. And this is his wife, Aline. (Indicating her) Halvard and Aline Solness live in a large house in a rather small town, and Halvard Solness has been for many years by far the most successful builder in the town. He keeps his office in a wing of his house, but since he’s been ill he’s been running his business out of his bedroom. Now, these three people all work for Halvard Solness. (Indicating them) This older man is called Knut Brovik. At one time, Knut Brovik was the town’s most successful build...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• A Master Builder
• Afterword