Broadway Review: “The Lehman Trilogy”
If you were to sit in the dark in the Nederlander Theatre at the appointed hour, with the security screen lowered, you would eventually hear Candida Caldicot begin to play the stage-left piano. Soon after, voices are heard, and what easily could be the most engaging radio play begins. And you immediately become entranced, captured by what you hear: the beginning of the story of the three Lehman brothers from their arrival to the United States, to the meteoric rise to power, and the eventual collapse of their empire. Raise the security curtain, and you see exactly what you imagined. You’re peeking into the recording studio to see the three narrators spin the rest of the brothers’ remarkable story.
Under Sam Mendes’s exquisite direction, Messrs. Beale, Godley, and Lester dig deep into Ben Power’s prose-poetry adaptation of Stefano Massini’s script and mine all its treasures seemingly without effort. Mr. Beale portrays Heyum Lehmann, the first Lehman brother to enter the United States through Ellis Island Customs on his way to the cotton fields and open skies of Montgomery, Alabama. Renamed ‘Henry Lehman’ by the Port Official in New York, Heyum immediately establishes his “Fabric and Suits” business. It is important to remember that from the very beginning, Henry understood his business was less than “politically correct.” His business was cotton, “and [he was in] a town where everything depends on cotton. On the plantation fields and the slaves that work them.” Henry is soon joined by brothers Mayer and Emmanuel. Their engagement with the capitalist complex and the American military-industrial complex is deftly chronicled by Mr. Beale, Mr. Godley, and Mr. Lester.
Whether in the North or the South, whether before the Civil War or after, whether prior to the Wall Street Crash of 1929, or after, the Lehman Brothers navigate through Es Devlin’s rotating surreal set, moving from one product to another, always following the profit trail but not the dictates of conscience. Always in the same splendid nineteenth-century period costumes designed by Katrina Lindsay, the Lehman trio survive the Civil War, the collapse of Wall Street, and a variety of challenging economic transformations. The three actors portray themselves, their spouses, their children, their adversaries, and their successors in a display of dramatic excellence. “The Lehman Trilogy” is the perfect marriage between text, direction, and design. One could not succeed without the other, and there would be no “whole” without all these parts functioning in tandem.
Despite the quality of the work – and it is impressive – “The Lehman Trilogy” constantly reminds the audience of the dynamics of the all-too-easy transition from entrepreneurship to corporate greed, the kind of greed that has grown exponentially after the Stock Market Crash of 2018 and resulted in the collapse of the Lehman Brothers empire that began in 1844 as Heyum Lehmann stood on a wooden dock in New York harbor fulfilling his dream of America.
THE LEHMAN TRILOGY
The cast of “The Lehman Trilogy” includes Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley, and Adrian Lester.
The design team for “The Lehman Trilogy” includes Es Devlin (Scenic Design), Katrina Lindsay (Costume Design), Luke Halls (Video Design), Jon Clark (Lighting Design), Nick Powell (Composer and Sound Design), Dominic Bilkey (Co-Sound Design), Candida Caldicot (Music Direction), and Polly Bennett (Movement). The Associate Director is Zoé Ford Burnett.
“The Lehman Trilogy” runs at the Nederlander Theatre through Sunday January 2, 2022. The performance schedule is Tuesday through Friday at 7:00 p.m., Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. To view December’s performance schedule and to purchase tickets, visits The Lehman Trilogy | Official Site.
Photo: Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley, and Adrian Lester in “The Lehman Trilogy.”
Credit: Julieta Cervantes.