The National Theatre and Neal Street Productions announces today that its critically acclaimed, five-time Tony Award® winning production of The Lehman Trilogy will return to London’s West End following highly acclaimed international performances.
This ‘genuinely epic production‘ (New York Times), written by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power and directed by multi-award-winning director, Sam Mendes with set design by Es Devlin, will play at the Gillian Lynne Theatre from 24 September 2024 until 5 January 2025 for a strictly limited run. Tickets will go on sale for ‘this mesmerising chronicle of an American dynasty’ (The Times), on Wednesday 19 June at 10am, from £20.
The Lehman Trilogy is a sweeping story of a family spanning generations and a company that changed the world. ‘Its theatricality is utterly astonishing’ (The Guardian).
John Heffernan, Aaron Krohn and Howard W. Overshown will reprise their ‘virtuosic performances’ (The Mercury News) in London, following a critically acclaimed run in San Francisco, playing the Lehman brothers, their sons and grandsons in this thrilling ‘tour de force of acting talent’ (KQED Radio).
Cat Beveridge and Anyssa Neumann will reprise their respective performances as principal pianist and alternate pianist. Further casting to be announced.
Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre, said:
“The Lehman Trilogy is storytelling at its best. Its success lies in its simplicity – three actors, one pianist and one set combining to tell an epic family drama in the most intimate way. This extraordinary production has now been seen by over half a million people worldwide and it continues to resonate with audiences whether that be in London, New York, Sydney or San Francisco. We are delighted to be bringing it back to the West End after its previous sold-out runs.”
Sam Mendes, director of The Lehman Trilogy and co-founder of Neal Street Productions said:
“I heard about Stefano Massini’s The Lehman Trilogy in 2015 . A year later, together with Ben Power and Es Devlin, a company of twelve actors at the National Theatre Studio read aloud a literal translation of what was in fact an epic poem. After a year of shaping it into a form we felt might chime for English speaking audiences who had lived through the aftermath of the 2008 financial meltdown, it had morphed into a three-hander which premiered at the National Theatre in 2018. Now, seven years later, the production has been enjoyed on three continents, and on Broadway and is returning to the West End for the third time. This feels like a tribute to everyone who believed in it and collaborated in its making.”
John Heffernan will play the role of Henry Lehman. Recent theatre credits include Nachtland (Young Vic) and Much Ado About Nothing (National Theatre), co-starring with Katherine Parkinson. Previous theatre credits include the title roles in Edward II (National Theatre), for which he was nominated for an Evening Standard Theatre Award, Oppenheimer (Royal Shakespeare Company) and Macbeth (Young Vic). Recent screen credits include, This Town (BBC), The Crown (Netflix), The Pursuit of Love (BBC), The Duke (Warner Bros), Misbehaviour (20th Century Fox) and Agatha Christie’s Crooked House (Vertical Entertainment).
Aaron Krohn will play the role of Mayer Lehman. Previous theatre credits with Sam Mendes include As You Like It (2010) with The Bridge Project, Mendes’ transatlantic collaboration with the Old Vic and the Brooklyn Academy of Music spanning three years and travelling to 15 international cities, Mendes’ Tony-winning production of Cabaret (2014), co-directed with choreographer Rob Marshall for Roundabout Theatre Company on Broadway and more recently The Lehman Trilogy (on Broadway) as the understudy role of Mayer Lehman. Other theatre credits include: Spamalot, Twelfth Night and Henry V at Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Screen credits include Fosse/Verdon (BBC), Boardwalk Empire (HBO) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC).
Howard W. Overshown will play the role of Emanuel Lehman. Previous theatre credits with Sam Mendes include Richard III for The Bridge Project (2012) and, prior to this current production of The Lehman Trilogy, he also played the role at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles (2022). Other theatre credits include A Soldier’s Play, Julius Caesar, Saint Joan, A View from the Bridge and Free Man of Color on Broadway. Screen credits include Blue Bloods (CBS), Fosse/Verdon (BBC), Tina Fey’s Girls5Eva (Netflix), and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel (Amazon Prime).
On a cold September morning in 1844, a young man from Bavaria stands on a New York dockside dreaming of a new life in the new world. He is joined by his two brothers, and an American epic begins. 163 years later, the firm they establish – Lehman Brothers – spectacularly collapses into bankruptcy, triggering the largest financial crisis in history.
Mendes is joined by set designer, Es Devlin; costume designer, Katrina Lindsay; video designer, Luke Halls; lighting designer Jon Clark; composer and sound designer, Nick Powell; co-sound designer, Dominic Bilkey; music director, Candida Caldicot; movement director, Polly Bennett and West End Director, Rory McGregor. Company voice work is by Charmian Hoare with casting by Naomi Downham. They are joined by associate lighting designer, Charlotte Burton and associate video designer Zakk Hein.
The Lehman Trilogy has now been seen by over half a million people worldwide. First commissioned by Neal Street Productions and developed and co-produced with the National Theatre at the Lyttelton theatre in 2018, an acclaimed sold-out run at the Park Avenue Armory in New York followed in the Spring of 2019. The Lehman Trilogy then returned to London for a 16-week sold-out run at the Piccadilly Theatre in the West End from May until August 2019. It was the first British play to return to Broadway following its 18-month shutdown (having previously played four performances in March 2020) for a much-lauded limited engagement at the Nederlander Theatre from September 2021 until January 2022. The Lehman Trilogy was the most awarded play on Broadway in 2022, winning Best Play, Best Director, Best Set Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Actor at the Tony Awards®. It also won the Drama League Award for Best Play and six Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Best Play. A Los Angeles transfer to Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson Theatre followed Broadway from March until April 2022 before it returned to London’s West End in 2023 for a 17-week sold-out run at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. The Lehman Trilogy has recently played a limited run at Theatre Royal Sydney, Australia and is currently running at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco to critical acclaim.
Prior to this production, the world premiere of Stefano Massini’s The Lehman Trilogy opened at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan in 2015. It turned out to be Artistic Director Luca Ronconi’s final production before his death. A long-term admirer of Ronconi’s, Sam Mendes was inspired to begin planning an English adaptation for Neal Street Productions. Ben Power was commissioned by Neal Street Productions to create a new version of this epic play, using a literal English translation by Mirella Cheeseman.
