Theater News

Jonathan Demme, André Gregory, Wallace Shawn at Work on Master Builder Film

Wallace Shawn
(© Tristan Fuge)
Wallace Shawn
(© Tristan Fuge)

Wallace Shawn and André Gregory are collaborating on a film version of Henrik Ibsen’s The Master Builder, according to a report in The New York Times. Jonathan Demme will direct the project.

Ibsen’s play, which Shawn has translated and adapted, centers on an architect (to be played by Shawn) and the mysterious young woman (to be played by Lisa Joyce) who enters his life. The cast will also feature Julie Hagerty as his wife. Gregory will play an aging man who works for the architect.


Shawn and Gregory have previously collaborated on another stage to screen adaptation, Vanya on 42nd Street as well as My Dinner With André. Among Shawn’s plays are Marie and Bruce, The Fever, Aunt Dan and Lemon, and The Designated Mourner. Among his other credits as a performer are Gossip Girl, The L Word, and Crossing Jordan; he has also voiced the character of Rex in the Toy Story series of animated films.