The IB Specialist (Year12) English trip was to the Old Vic, London, on Tuesday 23 February. Review by Anastasia Kolomiets (Year 12):
The First Year Specialists enjoyed an English trip to see David Hare’s fabulous adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s play ‘The Master Builder’, starring Ralph Fiennes as Halvard Solness. If you have not yet seen Hare’s production you should definitely organize a weekend outing to the Old Vic, more so if you appreciate a fascinating, intellectually stimulating plot, high quality, convincing acting and a beautiful set design.
‘The Master Builder’, written in 1892, is a powerful play about the conflict between the old and established and the young and ambitious; about guilt and success; and the price you have to pay to achieve your ambitions. The play is heavily autobiographical, revealing Ibsen’s inner feelings and debates as he reached the height of his career as a playwright: well-established, internationally famous, second most frequently performed after Shakespeare. The play is tragic, full of tension and emotional dynamic with its powerful yet puzzling symbolism raising more questions than giving answers.
The protagonist, Halvard Solness, is a rich and successful architect, jealous of his younger rivals and haunted by guilt. At the start of the play Solness is presented as quite a repellent character. He is brusque, harsh and arrogant, he cheats on his wife with a young secretary who is engaged, the talented fiancé works in Solness’s office. As the play unravels there is a greater insight into Solness’ psychology: it is revealed that he is haunted by ‘demons’, demons of guilt and ambition.
The transition from the world of the real to the world of the symbolic is catalysed by the appearance of the young Hilde Wangel (performed by the Australian actress Sarah Snook) filled with fervour, determination and tempestuousness. Hilde turns up at his house claiming that ten years ago Solness kissed her and promised to carry her away, like a mythical Scandinavian troll, she demands the kingdom that he apparently promised to build for her. The audience never finds out whether this really has happened, but this is not what matters. The story suggests a more symbolic reading of the play and highlights the importance of Hilde to the plot. Throughout the play, Hilde represents youth and energy and is used by Ibsen as a way to reveal the true nature behind Solness’s guilt and ambition, almost an embodiment of Solness’s inner desires. Solness confides to Hilde that he suspects he is the ‘chosen one’ as whatever he thinks or intends actually happens. He claims that others call it luck, but he tries to convince Hilde he really has the power to call on others to serve his inner wishes. Is this why Hilde comes in the first place? In any case, this is precisely the reason why he feels guilty in front of his wife. The desire to become a successful architect materialized because their old home burned down and he can now start building on the cleared plot of land. In fact, the audience is told that Solness and his wife lost their two newborn baby sons following the fire when their old house, the only thing his wife could call a “home”, burned down. Since then his wife has been distraught and crushed under the weight of the guilt she feels about the death of their two children. Soleness desires to atone for his wrongdoing by building a new house for him and his wife with a tall tower and a spire, something his wife can call “home”. This is true, but what Ibsen is suggesting to be a deeper truth is that Solness does not actually care about his wife’s feelings that much (he is brusque and harsh, after all) but instead builds the new house as a symbol of his, or indeed, humanity’s, ambition and creativity.
The plot becomes more confusing towards the end, with the wife confessing that the real reason why there could be no other home for her is because her favourite dolls were destroyed in the fire and that Solness has promised Hilde he will build castles in the air – a powerful symbol Ibsen leaved for his audience to decipher. The final scene of the play is a ceremony of putting a wreath on top of the spire of the tower of Solness’ new house. Hilde supports Solness in his impulsive decision to do it himself, even though he could easily fall and die. Ultimately, the play culminates in his fall, but only after he has proved that he can reach to the sky and speak to God.
The acting was skilful and convincing; the intonations and gestures were powerful and did not have that annoyingly exaggerated streak when emotions are expressed too crudely. What particularly struck me was the elegant and elaborate set design with bookshelves rising to the top of the ceiling and fragments of a demolished building in the background, which would light up with fiery red as a reminder of the house fire that started Solness’s career; for me, this really added a sense of surrealism into the realistic, even mundane setting of a living room. Oh, I nearly forgot about the cherry on top: the audience was delighted to see Solness and Hilde kiss.
The play was enjoyable and fascinating; for many it helped to appreciate the magic of Ibsen’s drama and the powerful acting really brought the story to life. Many thanks to Mr Wakeling and Mr Reston for organizing the trip.
