My Master Builder– Week Two, Day One

Education Associate Dominic Francis provides an insight into the cast and Creative Team’s rehearsal process for My Master Builder.

It’s the beginning of the second week of rehearsals and writer Lila Raicek, who was in rehearsals for the first week to answer questions about the play, has now left. She will return in the fifth and final week, leaving Michael and the cast alone to explore the text by themselves. Lila will deliver a revised draft in the coming days, which will incorporate revisions from last week’s work. 

In the room this morning, alongside Michael, are: designer Richard Kent, Associate Director Bethany West, Company Stage Manager Greg Shimmin and Deputy Stage Manager Lucy Bradford. The cast called today are: Ewan McGregor as Henry, Kate Fleetwood as Elena, David Ajala as Ragnar and Mirren Mack as Kaia. They are joined later by Elizabeth Debicki as Mathilde/Hilde. They’re continuing from page 14 in the script and Ragnar’s first entrance, working slowly through the scene and stopping to ask questions. The actors are mostly ‘off book’, having learnt their lines, but as it’s only week two they occasionally ask for a prompt. 

Michael gives Kate a proposed revision to her line about Henry’s memorial – ‘Is it for him, or for your adoring fans?’ – changing it to, ‘Or is it for your son?’ He explains the rationale: ‘I think we need to introduce the idea that you’ve lost a son earlier in the play.’ Ewan asks whether Henry would use the American term ‘math’ or the pluralized English version? ‘Maths,’ says Michael, ‘because Henry’s English, even though you’ve lived in America a while.’ 

Turning their attention to the scene and the dynamic between Henry, Elena and Ragnar, Ewan comments that he’s ‘trying to stay out of Ragnar’s way’ when his former protégé enters and greets his wife so flamboyantly. ‘Both of you should play the sides of this,’ suggests Michael to Ewan and Kate, ‘I think it should be quite performative.’ He wonders what Henry means by emphasizing ‘my wife’ in his line about the flowers Ragnar gives Elena: ‘Yes, incredibly thoughtful – to think of my wife!’ Michael asks Kate what she thinks has happened previously between Elena and Ragnar? There follows a discussion about how long she and Henry have known him. If Ragnar became Henry’s apprentice at the age of eighteen, say, he’s possibly been in their lives twenty-odd years. ‘Have you ever made a play for him and crossed over the line?’ Michael asks her. ‘All of that informs this.’  

Kate wonders about the guest room, which previously belonged to her son: ‘Why has she decorated that room now? Maybe she’s given herself more licence?’ While Michael is supportive of the exploration of a character’s past, reflecting on how it informs their circumstances today, he keeps bringing the cast back to the present: ‘The great thing about a play is that it’s all happening now.’ 

He will often run a scene several times to consolidate discoveries made, commenting afterwards, ‘Good, all helpful’. He’ll then give the actors small notes: ‘Try throwing out both those lines rather than dipping in… Play it more on the nose.’ Michael questions why Ragnar gives Elena dahlias? Is the flower significant? He says of Elena’s line, ‘Oh Ragnar, don’t make me sound so domesticated. How did you know dahlias are my favourite?’ – ‘That’s a very interesting insight into her character there.’ He suggests to Kate that Elena might initially admonish Ragnar for the flowers then rather likes them – ‘Do the reverse, go for it!’ She tries it this way, Michael commenting afterwards: ‘That works actually. That’s rather lovely.’ Of Elena’s line, ‘Why we drag ourselves out east every weekend, I don’t know…’ Michael says, ‘I think it’s probably no more than a bit of banter.’ He counsels Kate against underplaying any important information: ‘Don’t throw away the reference to Henry’s “flicker vertigo” too much – that’s a vital piece of exposition.’  

Michael refers to the fact that Henry inherited his Hamptons home many years ago from a mentor, an older architect to whom he was apprenticed. He queries Henry’s current ‘net worth’: ‘Couldn’t he afford a house there outright now?’ This leads Kate to question, ‘How powerful is Elena and what’s her income?’ She and Michael agree that it’s probably a sizeable amount of money. In terms of how Henry and Elena acquired the house and whether they’d be able to afford it today, Michael suggests, ‘I think there’s a degree of false modesty here.’ 

Although it’s only the second week of rehearsals, the cast are very familiar with their lines. Some are clearly easier to commit to memory than others, though. ‘I’m finding the text a little expository in this part,’ comments one actor, ‘I think that’s why I’m struggling with it.’ This leads Michael to reflect on exposition in general, and more specifically in relation to the two writers behind My Master Builder: ‘Ibsen is famous for his exposition – he lays his cards out in Act One. What Lila has done here is a kind of homage to Ibsen with these placings, for example the flicker vertigo. With exposition, you have to make it your own – you just have to own it. What doesn’t work is being too clever with it, trying to throw it away. There’s no point in having it otherwise.’ 

Michael pays careful attention to both the sense of the dialogue and the actors’ blocking to ensure the storytelling is clear. With regard to Elena’s line, ‘The summer I regretfully left London to follow Henry to New York…’ which Kate delivers as she exits to arrange Ragnar’s flowers, Michael observes: ‘Technically, it’s better if you go off with a dying inflection rather than pushing it back on.’ The focus is always on clarity – ‘I don’t know if that helps you going out a second time.’ 

They come to the moment in the scene when Kaia re-enters and sees Ragnar. ‘David, try taking out Lila’s dash on, ”If there’s any ideal way to go – oh hello there!”,’ suggests Michael, keen to avoid drawing too much attention to their clandestine relationship. ‘I think we’re in danger of making more of it than there is,’ he warns. ‘The most important thing for me is that we don’t get a whiff of what’s to come.’ He asks the actors to run Kaia’s entrance again, encouraging them to ‘keep it alive’. Maintaining a purposeful pace to rehearsals, Michael says afterwards: ‘Let’s move on because that worked.’ 

He takes a moment to consider the history of the characters, turning to Mirren: ‘This is a bigger question, but how long has Kaia worked for Elena?’ She thinks somewhere between five and seven years. Kate wonders about the circumstances behind Elena’s employment of Kaia – ‘How did we end up working together?’ This touches upon an issue Michael is always mindful of when it comes to actors and rehearsals: the question of a character’s background. ‘It’s not crucial for us, the audience,’ he observes, ‘but it is for you and your back-story.’  

When asked by Elena whether Ragnar knows Kaia, the latter explains that they met at a book party last winter. ‘Was that the night your relationship started?’ wonders Michael. ‘Several months ago?’ The dynamic between Ragnar and the two women in this scene is particularly marked. The stage-directions read: ‘Elena and Kaia compete to win Ragnar’s attention.’ Michael draws the actors’ attention to this: ‘Why don’t we play what’s in the script? Before moving on, I always like to try to get inside the writer’s head first.’ He praises the cast for their careful handling of the scene – ‘You’re doing very well here. This is good.’ 

Next, they examine the discussion between Henry and Ragnar about their most recent work and, more broadly, current trends in architecture. Michael advises Ewan and David: ‘This is a section you have to stay on top of – people at the top of their game discussing things that affect us.’ Here we clearly see the rivalry between Henry and his former protégé. ‘It’s a play-off,’ says Michael, highlighting the ‘passive-aggressive’ undertone to the scene. ‘There’s some lovely badinage here.’ He encourages Ragnar’s playfulness: ‘Keep that alive, David. Keep that upbeatness for the next section. Throw down some cards that dig at Henry.’ Examples of this include Ragnar’s line, ‘(I’m) designing a blueprint for the future’.  

After another run-through of the scene, Michael’s clearly pleased with their progress: ‘I have to say that was brilliant.’ He thinks the exchange between Henry and Ragnar will resonate with mature audiences in particular: ‘There’s a nice parallel with what’s going on everywhere – an older generation asking, “Is that what’s making headlines now?” Is the repurposing of a pencil factory really as important as a Holocaust museum?’  

Following a short tea break, Michael asks: ‘Where shall we pick it up from?’ They decide to continue from Kaia’s line, ‘Is it too early for a drink?’ Michael encourages David to really enjoy the scene: ‘Each time we do this, it’s an opportunity for you to celebrate it – relish the language.’ They consider the underlying tension in the scene, Michael suggesting that what keeps Henry in the room is discovering that Ragnar is staying overnight. ‘We’ve already learnt about the slightly dysfunctional sleeping arrangements in this house,’ he observes, ‘so where is Ragnar going to sleep?’ Of Henry’s exclamation, ‘He’s staying over?’, Ewan comments: ‘It’s so rude.’ Michael thinks this a ‘good note’ – ‘Perhaps you’re comfortable enough to say that to your old sparring partner?’ Ewan wonders whether the blocking can provide a solution. ‘You don’t think we need to help it with staging?’ he asks Michael. ‘With me closer to Elena?’ He doesn’t think so. 

They move on to the exchange between Elena and Ragnar, allowing Ewan and Mirren to take a break. Michael counsels Kate and David against misinterpreting the scene – Elena being left alone with Ragnar and offering him a drink: ‘Don’t let us mis-read it.’ David experiments with looking at the placing of the guest cards while Elena is out of the room, but Michael thinks this a distraction: ‘That makes me wonder if there’s some significance there.’ He understands the actor’s instinct, though, with regard to props and other bits of ‘business’ – ‘We’re all guilty of thinking we need things!’ 

He checks the intention behind lines: ‘Kate, can I ask what you’re asking Ragnar about there, “How do you quell such anguish when it does arise?”’ He warns them again about misrepresenting the scene: ‘I think you’ve both settled too much. You’ve settled into drinking conversation, but it hasn’t actually started yet.’ Clearly director and actors are of a mind with regard to this moment. ‘What it can’t do is sit down,’ says Michael, with Kate adding, ‘And get languid.’ He concedes that getting to Elena’s line about ‘anguish’ is challenging. ‘Picking up the glasses together is all about starting the scene they should be having,’ suggests Michael. ‘Everything’s been leading up to this moment. The big note is listen. The key thing for me is what are the big storytelling beats in this scene? For example: the vertigo, the anguish. What I’ve realised is the writer has come up with a series of moments. It’s not about it becoming settled.’ 

Michael asks them to run the scene again to consolidate all of the above: ‘Let’s do it one more time so it’s in your bones, then mark it in.’ Afterwards, David still thinks there are adjustments he could make in terms of his own performance: ‘I feel I could just soften the edges a little…’ But Michael’s pleased with the progress they’ve made: ‘That’s lovely. Well done, you two. Fantastic! And you remembered your intimacy rehearsal there.’ 

They are then joined by Elizabeth Debicki, ready for Hilde’s first entrance. Michael asks, ‘Why does she ring the bell?’ This is in contrast to Ragnar, who just walks in unannounced. Elizabeth thinks it’s because Hilde’s a guest in an unfamiliar space. ‘The audience will be waiting for a new character to come on,’ suggests Michael. He focuses on Hilde’s opening line, a reference to Elena: ‘Has she unleashed her reign of terror yet?’ He questions her intention there: ‘Why this question? Is the spirit, the tone you are arriving with, “Oh, my God! Has is started yet?” Michael considers all the options for the interpretation of a particular moment – ‘Is there a version where…?’ And he and the actors will discuss the various possibilities before Michael says, ‘This is the version I’d like most’.  

Of Ragnar and Hilde’s first encounter, in which he alludes to a ‘savage piece in the Times’ written by her about him, Michael asks: ‘Just so we’re clear, what’s the history here?’ He’s mindful that they’re still in the first quarter of the play and warns the cast against getting too far ahead: ‘Don’t play what’s to come. We’re on page 24 and the play hasn’t settled yet, but in a good way. We’re kind of pivoting here.’ 

Breaking for lunch, Michael congratulates the actors on the morning’s work: ‘Very good on all fronts.’