Gemma Arterton and Stephen Dillane to Star in West End’s The Master Builder

Gemma Arterton and Stephen Dillane are set to star in the West End revival of Henrik Ibsen’s The Master Builder. Travis Preston directs the drama, translated by Kenneth McLeish. Performances begin at the Almeida Theatre on November 12, 2010.

Arterton made her West End debut earlier this year in The Little Dog Laughed. She has also appeared on stage as Rosaline in the Globe Theatre’s production of Love’s Labour’s Lost. On film, she is known for her roles as Bond Girl Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace, Io in Clash of the Titans, Princess Tamina in the current release Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Head Girl Kelly Jones in St. Trinian’s.

A Tony winner for hie performance in the Broadway revival of The Real Thing, Dillane was recently seen in his one man version of Macbeth at the Almeida. He is currently starring in The Tempest and As You Like It as part of Sam Mendes’ Bridge Project at the Old Vic, after a winter run at BAM. His other theater credits include Hamlet, The Coast of Utopia, Angels in America and Dancing at Lughnasa. On film, he has been seen in The Hours, Hamlet, Welcome to Sarajevo, The Greatest Game Ever Played and the Goal trilogy. He played Thomas Jefferson in the HBO miniseries John Adams.

In Master Builder, Halvard Solness (Dillane) has reached the pinnacle on his career. But at a cost: His family life is in ruins and he lives in fear that the next generation will rise up and brush him aside. When Hilde Wangel (Arterton), a bewitching young woman, arrives to collect a decade-old debt, she breathes new life into his professional pride. As Solness completes his architectural masterpiece, will Hilde be the Master Builder’s ultimate downfall?

The production will feature designs by Vicki Mortimer, lighting design by Paul Pyant and sound design by John Leonard. Further casting is to be announced.