Henrik Ibsen 
A Master Builder 

‘Wallace Shawn is one of the most complex and uncompromising moralists of the American theater.’ – Ben Brantley,
New York Times


‘At once the U.S.’s most profound and overlooked playwright.’ – David Hare


This translation and adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s
Master Builder Solness by Wallace Shawn, a writer known for his own bleakly hilarious and provocative plays, was used by legendary director André Gregory during fifteen years of work on a theatrical production which, instead of being produced as a play, was made into a film by Jonathan Demme—a film that is an utterly contemporary vision of Ibsen’s classic play.

About the author

HENRIK IBSEN (1828-1906) is the author of
A Doll’s House, Hedda Gabler, Brand, Peer Gynt and
The Master Builder among many others.

WALLACE SHAWN is the author of
Our Late Night (OBIE Award for Best Play),
Grasses of a Thousand Colors,
The Designated Mourner,
Marie and Bruce,
Aunt Dan and Lemon,
The Fever, and the screenplay for
My Dinner with André.