EWAN McGREGOR RETURNS TO THE LONDON STAGE,
REUNITING WITH DIRECTOR MICHAEL GRANDAGE,
TO LEAD THE COMPANY OF
LILA RAICEK’S NEW PLAY MY MASTER BUILDER
WITH OVER 10,000 TICKETS AT £25 ACROSS THE RUN
Ewan McGregor returns to the London stage for the first time in 17 years to star in 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-produce 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. Further casting and creative team to be announced shortly.
My Master Builder reunites McGregor and Grandage following their previous collaborations on Othello and Guys and Dolls – both for the Donmar, where Grandage was Artistic Director.
With over 10,000 tickets at £25 across the run, public booking opens at midday today, with DMT Priority from 10am.
Ewan McGregor said today, “It’s such a thrill be returning to the stage – and to work with Michael again, an actor’s director with whom I have had some of my happiest working experiences. He’s a generous collaborator, who enables you to discover the play together afresh in the rehearsal room. And what a play – I love where Lila has taken the story, a very modern take on today’s sexual politics.”
Michael Grandage added, “It’s always a privilege to open a new play in the West End and to bring emerging and original voices to as wide an audience as possible. I’m excited to collaborate with writer Lila Raicek, staging My Master Builder in London this Spring. The production is also a joyful reunion with Ewan McGregor – an extraordinary stage actor, working together for the first time on a world premiere, in a brand-new partnership for MGC with MarketStall and Seaview.”
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.
Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok: @MMBThePlay
MarketStall, Michael Grandage Company, Seaview
MY MASTER BUILDER
A NEW PLAY BY LILA RAICEK
Cast includes: Ewan McGregor
Director: Michael Grandage
17 April to 12 July
at Wyndham’s Theatre
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.
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, 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.
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.
Listings Information
MY MASTER BUILDER
Wyndham’s Theatre
Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0DA
Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok: @MMBThePlay
Box Office: 0344 482 5151
Groups booking: 0344 482 5100
Access booking: 0344 482 5137
TICKETS
From £25
With over 10,000 tickets at £25 across the run
17 April to 12 July
Performances Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm
Matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm
NB post press night, the matinee will be on Thursday 1 May
Access performances:
Captioned: Saturday 24 May 2025 at 2.30 pm
Audio Described: Saturday 14 June 2025 at 2.30pm