Theater

Recommended for classes in: English, Social Studies, Performing Arts

Ruthless and revered architect Halvard Solness (an electrifying John Turturro) is obsessively driven—until a young woman from his past stops him in his tracks. Hilde (Wrenn Schmidt, Boardwalk Empire), a force of unbridled sexual energy coupled with childlike willfulness, enters the master builder’s home and head, trailing mysterious talk of past promises. As she urges the megalomaniacal Solness to ever greater and less sustainable heights, his tragedy-haunted wife Aline (Katherine Borowitz) watches from the sidelines, an unwilling participant in an off-kilter love triangle.

A psychologically heady and physically potent new version of Ibsen’s late masterwork, The Master Builder is a triumphant return to BAM for Turturro and director Andrei Belgrader, who last collaborated on the critically acclaimed Endgame (2008 Spring Season).