The Master Builder follows Halvard Solness, an architect at the peak of his professional reputation, whose success is shadowed by a paralysing fear of younger rivals and the consequences of his past. When Hilde Wangel, a young woman he met a decade earlier, reappears in his life and holds him to a promise he made her, Solness is drawn toward a final act of ambition that forces a confrontation with everything his career has cost him.

The production stars Greg Hicks in the title role, reuniting with Arcola Theatre Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen following their previous collaborations on An Enemy of the People and Richard III. The staging is a new production of Henrik Ibsen's late play, which uses the figure of the architect and the act of building as a lens for examining legacy, self-deception, and the danger of living for an image of oneself.