The Master Builder Project: An eight-week course by in situ: exploring Henrik Ibsen’s The Master Builder.
Dates: Monday October 17 – Monday December 12 (no class November 14)
Time: 8pm – 10pm
Venue: St Andrews’ Hall, Chesterton, Cambridge
Price: 220 GBP
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a tireless and remarkable theatrical experimenter and is therefore a very appropriate writer for a theatre group with its own well-established reputation for bold exploration and experiment.
By the time he came to write The Master Builder, he had already pioneered the technique of Naturalism within the theatre, hugely influential on subsequent generations of theatre artists, and we will be exploring those techniques. But he went much further and introduced important ideas on poetic theatre and theatre of image and symbol, which influenced an equally powerful strand of theatre in the 20th century. All this remains equally powerful in today’s world.
So it is a work that offers unparalleled opportunities.
The Master Builder
The story centres on a famous architect, Solness, who is getting old and frightened of losing power and influence. He has developed a morbid fantasy (described by Freud as ‘Omnipotence of Wishes’) that he can get what he wants simply by willing it. A young woman, Hilde, appears in his life as if from nowhere and she believes the same thing. He falls in love with her. But what she wants is going to prove tragic and destructive for him. It’s a powerful psychological thriller.
The Course
This course will explore Ibsen’s famous late drama from many angles and using a wide variety of theatrical techniques. Work on dialogue, characterisation, and staging, plus some of in situ:’s trademark approaches, including Voice and Choreographic work.
Master Builder Project is a three-term project which will culminate in performances in late June/early July 2023. Participants join up for a term at a time and are welcome to continue with or leave the project at the end of each term as they wish. So there is no obligation to commit for more than one term, but all participants will be invited to take part in the performance if they wish. There is never any auditioning or selection of any kind.
No previous experience is necessary to take part but a willingness to plunge wholeheartedly into collaborative work is essential.
If you want to take part, contact me here at swithold59@gmail.com or ring me on 01223 21451 to arrange for payment and get details of preparation, etc.
Richard Spaul
Your Teacher
Your teacher, Richard Spaul, is a founder member of in situ: and one of the company’s artistic directors. He was also Artistic Director and founder of the pioneering experimental group Cambridge Experimental Theatre, active in the 80s and 90s.
He has trained in vocal technique with Noah Pikes, Enrique Pardo and other members of the Roy Hart Theatre. In addition to teaching Voice, he also teaches Text, Shakespeare, Storytelling and
Improvisation.
Recent work includes a solo performance of Hamlet and a series of solo performances, including the popular Ghost Stories, focussing on Artists of the Uncanny.
