Full Cast and Creative Team Set For MY MASTER BUILDER Starring Ewan McGregor and More
The production opens on 29 April 2025 at Wyndham's Theatre, with previews from 17 April, and runs until 12 July.
Elizabeth Debicki, Kate Fleetwood, David Ajala, and Mirren Mack join Ewan McGregor to complete the cast of My Master Builder - a new play by American playwright and screenwriter Lila Raicek.
Directed by Michael Grandage, the Artistic Director of MGC, who also co-produces with MarketStall and Seaview, the production opens on 29 April 2025 at Wyndham's Theatre, with previews from 17 April, and runs until 12 July.
Also announced today is the full creative team - joining Grandage are Richard Kent (Set and Costume Designer), Paule Constable (Lighting Designer), Adam Cork (Sound Designer and Composer), with casting by Sophie Holland CSA. Finishing the team are Bethany West (Associate Director), Kate West (Production Manager), Lisa Aitken (Costume Supervisor), Kate Margretts (Prop Supervisor) and general management by Fiona Steed.
With over 10,000 tickets at £25 across the run, public booking is now open. The captioned performance is on Saturday 24 May 2025 at 2.30pm; and the audio described performance is Saturday 14 June 2025 at 2.30pm.
On the eve of July 4th in the Hamptons, Elena Solness, a publishing magnate, is preparing to throw a party to celebrate her architect husband, Henry Solness, as he unveils his latest masterpiece. Their already vulnerable union is shattered by the unexpected arrival of Mathilde, a former student of Henry's, with whom he previously shared an intimate connection. As the evening unfolds, each find themselves face to face with a reckoning that indelibly tilts the axis of their lives.
Inspired by Ibsen, My Master Builder is a startling new play by Lila Raicek that lays bare the vulnerabilities we expose, when we leave ourselves open to love.
Meet the Cast
Ewan McGregor returns to the London stage to play Henry Solness. He previously appeared in Othello (Donmar Warehouse), Guys and Dolls (Donmar West End at the Piccadilly Theatre) and Little Malcolm and His Struggles Against the Eunuchs (Hampstead Theatre and Comedy Theatre); and on Broadway, The Real Thing. His television work includes A Gentleman in Moscow (Golden Globe nomination for Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television), Obi-Wan Kenobi, Halston (Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie), Fargo (Golden Globe for Best Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television, Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie Made for Television or Limited Series), Karaoke, Scarlett and Black and Lipstick on Your Collar; and for film, Mother Couch, Bleeding Love, Raymond & Ray, Birds of Prey, Pinocchio, Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, Doctor Sleep, Christopher Robin, Beauty and the Beast, T2 Trainspotting, American Pastoral, Our Kind of Traitor, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Force Awakens, Last Days in the Desert, A Million Ways to Die in the West, August: Osage County, The Impossible, Haywire, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Perfect Sense, Beginners, The Ghost Writer, Amelia, Angels & Demons, I Love You Philip Morris, Deception, Incendiary, Cassandra's Dream, Miss Potter, Stay, The Island, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Robots, Big Fish, Young Adam (Scottish BAFTA for Best Actor), Down with Love, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Black Hawk Down, Moulin Rouge!, Rogue Trader, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Little Voice, Velvet Goldmine, A Life Less Ordinary, The Serpent's Kiss, Emma, Trainspotting (Scottish BAFTA for Best Actor), The Pillow Book, and Shallow Grave. McGregor undertook an international motorcycle trip with friend and colleague Charley Boorman which included visits to several UNICEF programmes along the route, and formed the basis of a television series and a best-selling book, both called Long Way Round – this was followed by Long Way Down and Long Way Up.
Elizabeth Debicki plays Mathilde. Her theatre work includes The Red Barn (National Theatre), The Maids (Helpmann Award nomination and winner of the Sydney Theatre Awards for Best Newcomer - Sydney Theatre Company, New York City Center), and The Gift (Melbourne Theatre Company). On television, her work includes The Crown (Golden Globe, Critics' Choice, SAG and Emmy Awards wins, with nominations from BAFTA and AACTA), The Night Manager (Critics' Choice Television Award nomination), The Tale and The Kettering Incident (AACTA for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series). Her film credits include Tenet, Widows (London Critics' Circle nomination, LA Film Critics' Circle Award runner-up, Hollywood Critics' Association nomination), The Great Gatsby (AACTA Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Australian Film Critics' Association nomination), The Man for U.N.C.L.E, Maxxine, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 & 3, The Burnt Orange Heresy, Vita and Virginia, Breath, Everest, and Macbeth.
Kate Fleetwood plays Elena. Her theatre work includes A View From the Bridge (Theatre Royal Haymarket), 101 Dalmatians (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), Absolute Hell, Ugly Lies the Bone, King Lear, London Road – Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical, Love's Labour's Lost (National Theatre), Bug (Found111), Medea (Almeida Theatre), High Society (The Old Vic), Life is a Dream, Hecuba (Donmar Warehouse), Macbeth – Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Chichester Festival Theatre, Gielgud Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Broadway), Twelfth Night (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Winter's Tale, Pericles (RSC), Othello (Northampton Theatre Royal), and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Bristol Old Vic). For television, her work includes Big Mood, Mary and George, Rain Dogs, The Wheel of Time, Fate: The Winx Club Saga, Brave New World, Victoria, Harlots, War and Peace, The People Next Door, The Widower, Way to Go, Touch of Cloth, Sarah Jane Adventures, Hustle and After Thomas; and for film, Scoop, Choose or Die, Beirut, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, London Road, Philomena, Les Miserables, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Macbeth, The Golden Age, 77 Beds, Vanity Fair, A Changed Man and Beautiful People.
David Ajala plays Ragnar. His theatre work includes One Night in Miami (Donmar Warehouse), The Witness, Othello, Every Man (Royal Court Theatre), Ruined (Almeida Theatre), Nation, Death and the King's Horseman (National Theatre), Love's Labour's Lost, A Midsummer Night's Dream (RSC), The Swing of Things (Stephen Joseph Theatre), How to Steal a Diamond (Traverse Theatre), Right You Are If You Say So, Strange Lands, Suicided Man (N1 Theatre), and Tales of Courage (Nottingham Playhouse). His television work includes Nine Bodies in a Mexico Morgue, The Jetty, Star Trek: Discovery, Urban Myths, Supergirl, Under the Bridge, Nightflyers, Falling Water, Hooten and the Lady, Beowulf, Black Box, Law & Order, Black Mirror, Death in Paradise, Monroe, Misfits, Coming Up, Silent Witness, Doctor Who, Hamlet, Trexx and Flipside, The Revenge of Alistair Fury and Dream Team (as series regular Sean Campbell); and for film, The Woman in Cabin 10, Italian Studies, Brotherhood, Jupiter Ascending, Kill Command, Starred Up, Emulsion, Fast & Furious 6, Offender, Payback Season, One Day, The Dark Knight, Adulthood and Kidulthood.
Mirren Mack plays Kaja. Her theatre work includes Grapes of Wrath, Small Island (National Theatre), and Hamlet (Bristol Old Vic). Her television work includes Miss Austen, Say Nothing, Mary & George, The Doll Factory, The Witcher: Blood Origins (as series regular Merwyn), Dalgliesh, The Nest, and Sex Education (as series regular Florence); and for film, Hedda.
Lila Raicek is a New York based playwright. Her new play Fire Season, inspired by Measure for Measure, is in pre-production, and she is writing a new play Tulla about Edvard Munch for Seaview Productions. In television, she is penning two original series for Fifth Season and Made Up Stories, and wrote on Younger and Gossip Girl. Her debut novel The Plunge will be published by HarperCollins in Summer 2025. She holds an MFA in playwriting from Columbia University.
Michael Grandage is Artistic Director of the Michael Grandage Company (MGC) where for theatre he has directed Penelope Wilton and Luke Evans in Backstairs Billy (Duke of York's Theatre), Emma Corrin in Orlando (Garrick Theatre), Dawn French in Dawn French is a Huge Tw*t (UK tour and The Palladium), Ian McDiarmid in The Lemon Table (UK tour), Aidan Turner in The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Noël Coward Theatre), Alfred Molina and Alfred Enoch in Red (Wyndham's Theatre), Nicole Kidman in Photograph 51 (Noël Coward Theatre), Dawn French: 30 Million Minutes (national and international tour and West End), Jude Law in Henry V, David Walliams and Sheridan Smith in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Daniel Radcliffe in The Cripple of Inishmaan, Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw in Peter and Alice and Simon Russell Beale in Privates on Parade as part of the season at the Noël Coward Theatre. His film work for MGC includes My Policeman (2022) starring Harry Styles, Emma Corrin, Gina McKee, Linus Roache, David Dawson and Rupert Everett, and Genius (2016) starring Colin Firth, Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, and Laura Linney. His opera work includes Madama Butterfly for Houston Grand Opera and Chicago Lyric Opera, Le Nozzi de Figaro for Glyndebourne and Houston, Don Giovanni for the Met and Billy Budd for San Francisco, Glyndebourne and BAM in New York. He was Artistic Director of The Donmar Warehouse (2002–2012) and Sheffield Theatres (2000-2005) where his work included Chiwetel Ejiofor in Othello, Frank Langella and Michael Sheen in Frost/Nixon, Derek Jacobi in King Lear, Eddie Redmayne and Alfred Molina in Red (Tony Award for Best Director), Jude Law in Hamlet and Kenneth Branagh in Ivanov. He won three Olivier Awards for his musical productions of Guys and Dolls, Merrily We Roll Along and Grand Hotel. His production of Disney's Frozen - The Musical ran for three years at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. He was President of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama from 2010 to 2022 and is currently President of the Morrab Library. He was appointed CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2011. His book, A Decade At The Donmar, was published by Constable & Robins in 2012. His charity, set up to help young theatre makers, can be found at www.mgcfutures.com.
