My experience at the Wyndham’s Theater production of My Master Builder was eventful. That is, until the show started. On that, there is not much to say. MMB did not blow me away, but it did not incur a wild fury that burned inside me either. It just sort of… was. That is not to say that anything deemed good or bad has to be either revolutionary or a crime against humanity. There are plenty of ordinary things that people idolize or detest based on principle. Unfortunately, My Master Builder was simply ordinary. Luckily, the beauty and elegance of the theatre paired with the hospitality of the Wyndham staff made for a pleasant experience.
A play, when seen through a critical lens, can be broken into several parts: the set, the costumes, the story and dialogue, the action and choices made, and the staging. All of these stem from various people who helped create the play. The set and costume designers obviously design the set and costumes. The writer creates the story and its dialogue. The actors study their character and the story to make choices that make sense. Finally, the director blocks the stage and guides everyone else toward a certain mood.
Lila Raicek’s “My Master Builder “strays so far away from the original, that it lost a lot of the crucial themes. Apparently she was attempting to put more focus on the female characters, but that did not quite come to full fruition. Even the posters have Ewen front and center with the women standing behind him which does the opposite of putting the women on the forefront. The only part that truly highlighted the female characters was Kate Fleetwood. She excelled in her performance and outshone her cast mates, including her male costar, Ewen McGregor. Perhaps that is due to limitations in the way his character was written. Regardless, Kate stood out to me the entire show.
My Master Builder excelled when it came to the set and costume designs. I was expecting something different from his masterful tower, but just because the designers’ vision was different from mine does not mean it is bad. Additionally, the costumes did a great job of telling us more about the characters and the story than the script allowed for. Ewen McGregor’s costume in particular was beige, bland, and flowy like a rich hippy who hates color. While this may not make sense for an architect, it can indicate one of two thigns. One, McGregor’s character in the original play, The Master Builder, is a narcissist who could care less about some big dinner his wife is hosting at their home. Two, Raicek made McGregor’s character take a backseat as shown through his beige costume helping him blend into the background.
Given the chance, I would probably not go see this show again.
– Hadley ❤
Theatre in London U of A 