Ewan McGregor makes an exquisite return to UK theatre in My Master Builder

Ewan McGregor is undone at a Hamptons party from hell in My Master Builder – review

In this feminist reimagining of Ibsen’s original, the actor’s star power is outshone by his formidable co-star Kate Fleetwood

Ewan McGregor makes an exquisite return to UK theatre in My Master Builder

The dramas of Chekhov and Ibsen are eternally relevant because of the never-ending pertinency of their themes and they are also endlessly adaptable. Last week saw the opening of Conor McPherson’s glistening new play The Brightening Air, which brings a highly Chekhovian set-up to a ramshackle family home in 80s Sligo; now American playwright Lila Raicek offers a punchy and poisonous spin on Ibsen’s 1893 play The Master Builder. In the lead role E…

The Brightening Air: Unbearably tense and brilliantly acted

After seeing The Brightening Air at the Old Vic, I left the theatre with the overwhelming urge to seize control of my own destiny. It follows an extended family as they prepare to meet after a long time apart. The occasion: the birthday of the blind ex-clergyman Father Pierre. It is a play in which everybody yearns: for love, money, or a certain something that remains elusive…  Loosely based on Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya – playwright Conor McPherson …

Conor McPherson’s The Brightening Air at the Old Vic: Wonderfully Numinous And Eccentric Account Of Family Life In 1980s Rural Ireland

Theatre needs mystery. In the darkened auditorium, with a crowd of strangers sharing your experience, it is possible to believe in anything you see on the stage: ghosts, miracles and magic. Few playwrights have been as good as engaging with such mystical aspects of life than Conor McPherson, whose previous plays include The Weir, Shining City and The Veil. For his latest, The Brightening Air, inspired by working on a version of Anton Chekhov’s U…