★★★★★
Lehman Brothers Inc. has been gone for 16 years, and it dances the twist! The Lehman Brothers Inc. is probably not the first thing we associate with the 2008 financial crash. However, Sam Mendes’s The Lehman Trilogy uncovers the family saga hidden behind the former corporate titan. With creativity, tasteful humour, and phenomenal acting, the play is a cautionary tale of unhampered ambition and reckless corporate greed. Three hours and 20 minutes about bankers and the stock exchange may seem like purgatory to outsiders, but trust me, your investment is safe with Mendes.
Three Bavarian brothers arrive in New York and open a fabric and clothing shop in Alabama. Henry (Leighton Pugh), Emanuel (Howard W. Overshown) and Mayer Lehman (Aaron Krohn) have a grounded fraternal dynamic that consists of Mayer quelling the other brothers’ egos. After a fire destroys cotton plantations the southern states (and the brothers) heavily depended on, the Lehmans start innovating to keep themselves afloat. This marks the birth of the middlemen who buy raw cotton and re-sell to manufacturers who produce fabric and clothing. The Lehmans continue to grow over three generations until they become one of the largest banks in New York.
The play dissects the history behind the bank’s roaring success spanning across three centuries, from its original investment in cotton to betting on railways and joining the New York Stock Exchange. The three actors play all major and minor characters, including the brothers’ wives, sons, grandsons, rabbis, and doctors. The actors’ range was nothing short of spectacular, weaving effortlessly between powerful monologues and lighthearted banter. By the third party of the play, Krohn’s performance as Bobby Lehman was mesmeric and wonderfully terrifying.
Es Devlin’s set of a New York office is ingenious as the use of space effortlessly leads us from the 19th to the 21st century. No doubt, Polly Bennett’s movement direction makes both the actors and the play sing harmoniously. The most scintillating parts of the play are accompanied by Cat Beveridge’s piano which was a nice touch.
The colossal historical scope of the Lehman brothers’ story could have easily become overwhelming. Mendes could have lost us somewhere in the haze of American economic history. This was not the case. At no point are the brothers or their descendants let off the hook for their decisions. The humble beginnings do not exempt them from the moral blight of participating in slavery. They are also guilty for their part in the bloody cotton industry, where “everything that was built there was built on a crime.” The unsettling dreams of each Lehman Bros. patriarch foretell the catastrophic crash that comes from increasingly reckless financial ventures.
The round-the-clock strategic gambling of venture capitalism infiltrates all other aspects of the Lehmans’ lives. Marriage used to be a matter of beauty and romance. It became a points system solution to “the marriage problem.” Mayer holds onto Alabama long past its sell-by date. Bobby relies on the failure of smaller banks to sustain him during the Great Depression. When Henry Lehman died the devoutly Jewish brothers remained in mourning for a week and ripped their suits. Constantly absorbed in the worldwide dance of stocks and bonds, Bobby Lehman dedicated three minutes of silence to the death of his father, Phillip.
Mendes’s The Lehman Trilogy is London’s latest theatrical landmark, with every single movement, beat, and note of piano music accounted for. In a world where corporate greed and a relentless grasping in the dark for success, the other side of the coin is equally dark and tragic.
The Lehman Trilogy will be performed at the Gillian Lynne Theatre until 5 January 2025.
Words by Elizabeth Sorrell
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.