Stefano Massini’s The Lehman Trilogy premiered in London at The National Theatre prior to the pandemic, before transferring to Broadway where it picked up a handful of Tony Awards. The production, directed by Sam Mendes, now returns to London and the West End for a limited run at The Gillian Lynne Theatre.
Most of us are well aware of the financial crisis of 2008, the ramifications of which are still being felt today. But we may have forgotten that the entire affair kicked off with the collapse of Lehman Brothers Bank, one of the biggest financial institutions in the world.
As Massini’s title suggests this is a play in three acts, which tells the story of the three Lehman Brothers who founded the firm; starting with their arrival in America from Bavaria, opening a small store, moving to trading raw cotton, and investing in railways, before finally establishing the bank.
It’s a fascinating insight to the lives of the real-life Lehman Brothers and a fine study in acting, whether it also manages to be entertaining is up for debate. The original play, which has been staged internationally, lasted in excess of five hours and included a sprawling cast. This production, adapted by Ben Power, has been trimmed down to just shy of three and half hours, and has a cast of…you guessed it…three.
Despite it’s generous running time, and plenty of exposition, it still manages to feel like it’s only telling half the story, or should that be a third of it? The financial crisis itself tops and tales the play, but the actual mechanics of the bank’s downfall are excluded. Key characters also feel thinly drawn; we learn very little about Bobby Lehman, the son of one of the original brothers and a key player in the expansion of the bank, despite playing a pivotal role.
Michael Balogun, Hadley Fraser and Nigel Lindsay all turn in magnificent performances, there’s no doubting this is an acting masterclass and The Lehman Trilogy is worth seeing for these performances alone. They do, of course, all have to play multiple roles, and that starts to get a little tiresome by the third act, especially when they’re switching gender, which is played with high camp, seemingly for comedic effect.
Es Devlin’s beautifully streamlined set is a rotating glass box, reminiscent of a Wall Street high rise office, which sits in front of Luke Hall’s video design, depicting the changing landscape of America. Linking into the themes of the play itself, for it’s not just the physical landscape that’s changing, but also the American dream and capitalism as a whole.
The Lehman Trilogy is a thoroughly enjoyable watch, with three incredible actors at the helm. Audiences however, may find themselves left wondering where the rest of the story is, and want to have seen more about the personalities that drove this extraordinary family.
