Ralph Fiennes is
The Master Bator Builder in another of
Ibsen's looks at a failing marriage with a tragic backstory. He plays Halvard
Solness, a self-taught architect whose popularity over the last decade has driven
every other local architect out of business, including the now-ailing Knut Brovik
(James Laurenson.) Solness employs Knut's son Ragnar (Martin Hutson) as an
apprentice, deliberately holding him back as he recognises a talent who could
replace him in turn. As his career has thrived, Solness' family has suffered - a
house fire that kickstarted his career also led to the death of his twin sons; his
wife Aline (Linda Emond) has never recovered, not helped by her husband's (probably
well-deserved) reputation as a womanizer. Although he protests there's nothing going
on between him and his smitten assistant, Ragnar's fiancée Kaja (Charlie Cameron,)
he's certainly fond of leading her on.
