‘THE LEHMAN TRILOGY’: Simon Russell Beale, Ben Miles & Adam Godley in the National Theatre production, now back in London at the Piccadilly Theatre. Photo: Mark Douet

 

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THE LEHMAN TRILOGY
By Stefano Massini
Adapted by Ben Power
Directed by Sam Mendes
Through August 31, 2019
Piccadilly Theatre
16 Denman Street
London, United Kingdom
https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/the-lehman-trilogy-at-piccadilly-theatre
Broadcast on NT Live on Thursday, July 25, 2019. Info at  http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/72252-the-lehman-trilogy

 

By David NouNou

Once in a generation comes that elusive masterpiece to the theater, a play that sparks the imagination, grabs the heart, and hauntingly seeps into the subconscious and stays with you forever. I won’t add musicals to this list, although there have been many, as they have an innate ability to entertain. A play has to seize your attention from the first image.

The first image that appears in The Lehman Trilogy is of three men dressed in formal attire in a chromed high-rise office building, awaiting the funereal end of something.

Then Part I begins with the title “The Brothers.”

It is 1844. Hayum Lehmann (Simon Russell Beale), the son of a cattle merchant, arrives at New York’s Ellis Island from Rimpar, Bavaria. The immigration officer, not understanding the name, dubs him Henry Lehman. He then settles in Birmingham, Alabama to open a general store. In 1847, Mendel Lehmann (Ben Miles) arrives from Germany to join his brother and becomes Emanuel Lehman. Finally, in 1850, the last brother Mayer Lehman (Adam Godley) arrives to the firm which becomes the Lehman Brothers. They are in the business of buying and reselling cotton in the South. They are of Jewish heritage, with strict Jewish observances,

Now that the triumvirate is complete, the dynamics begin. Henry and Mayer base themselves in Birmingham while Emanuel’s restlessness for more moves him to New York. As their firm is growing, Henry, the eldest, dies in 1855 of yellow fever. The formal attire that costume designer Katrina Lindsay created is multipurpose. The actors wear the same articles of clothing throughout the play. In the opening scene, these costumes represented outfits for bankers and brokers; in the beginning of the play it was the attire for that time period; and at Henry’s death, they are used as black suits, what mourners wear to sit shiva for a whole week.

Part II is “Fathers and Sons.”

The first part gave us the initial introduction to the three Lehmans, the second part introduces us to the marriages and wives and the generations that came after them. All the ensuing characters are played by the same three above-mentioned actors. It is here that we meet Philip, son of Emmanuel, Herbert, the son of Mayer, and the astute and ruthless Robert “Robbie” Lehman, the grandson of Emanuel and thus the advent of greed and corruption begins. As the country gets closer to the 20th Century, the more Lehman Brothers grows, exponentially, the avarice and lawlessness ensues. As Mayer dies in 1897 and then Emanuel in 1907, the Jewish observances and respect for Shiva dwindles lower and lower. The mourning period is shortened to fit for business duties. By 1929, the Lehman Corporation, is becoming an investment company.

Part III is “The Immortal.”

As the country goes through turmoil: Wall Street crashes, the depression, World War II, Pearl Harbor, Lehman Brothers weathers all the storms and ultimately profits. In 1965, Robbie Lehman sets up a trading department at Lehman Brothers. By the time he dies, there is no mourning period, after all, banks and Wall Street doesn’t close for mere mortals. In 1984, American Express bought Lehman Brothers and disposed of them in 1994. In 2007, Lehman Brothers was entangled in the subprime mortgage lending crisis, and in 2008 they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition. As hundreds of billions of dollars were wiped out in bad loans, it is the worst crisis since the depression.

The three men dressed in formal attire in a chromed high tower office building have seen the funereal end and the closing of Lehman Brothers.

The show runs for 3 and 20 minutes, with two intermissions and can only be described as an epic masterpiece. A masterpiece comes once a generation. I will only go back to the year 2000, since the early masterpieces I have seen were as revivals, I can’t count those. The three I have witnessed firsthand are War Horse, a visual feast for the eyes, heart and mind; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a monumental achievement that arrests the mind and heart; and now The Lehman Trilogy that inflames the mind and soul of how did things get so out of hand? Ironically, all three are English plays.

Stefano Massini has written an epic play in scale and grandeur. It involves immigrants, Judaism, beliefs, family, work ethics, greed, monopoly, crises, from the scaling up to the ultimate drop. It takes into consideration the people it affected and the lives it shattered.

Massive in scale, and to bring vision and focus to all these words and pages a strong director with formidable insight and intellect was needed to give it shape and order. The man to do it was Sam Menses, who just recently won a Tony Award for Best Director of a Play for The Ferryman. Between him and his set designer Es Devlin, they created a visually stunning world of glass, chrome, cubicles, representing, stores, banks, offices, buildings and skyscrapers. The set is constantly spinning or in motion to represent any place that the action takes place. Everything is magnificently lit by lighting designer Jon Clark to capture every mood and nuance of any scene.

Now all this would serve the mind and the optics, but you need the actors to breathe life into these words and set the stage on fire. You cannot separate Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley, and Ben Miles; they are so intertwined as a unit, you cannot single one form the other. One just marvels at their precision, delivering their lines and playing off each other. They complement each other through and through.

The Lehman Trilogy started its run at the National Theatre in London in 2018, then came to the Park Avenue Armory for one month in New York in March 2019 where tickets were scarcer than hen’s teeth. It has now moved back to London at the Piccadilly Theatre for a limited run through August 31, 2019.

It would be worth it to fly to London to catch The Lehman Trilogy and then fly back to New York if you didn’t suffer any jet lag. Let’s hope this show eventually comes to Broadway for a regular run where people can enjoy this epic masterpiece of the ages and not just for the privileged few who paid a fortune to see it. It has to be seen by every theater-loving individual because this is the glorious stuff of which theatrical legends are made.

 

Can’t make it to London this summer? The Lehman Trilogy will be broadcast on NT Live on Thursday, July 25, 2019 at cinemas across America. Click here for more information.

 

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 27, 2019
Reviewed at performance in London on June 12, 2019

 

‘THE LEHMAN’ TRILOGY: (left to right) Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley and Ben Miles. Photo: Mark Douet

Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley & Ben Miles. Photo: Mark Douet

‘THE LEHMAN TRILOGY’: Ben Miles. Photo: Mark Douet

‘THE LEHMAN TRILOGY’ (left to right): Adam Godley, Simon Russell Beale & Ben Miles. Photo: Mark Douet