The LEHMAN TRILOGY

from Absolutely Berkshire April 2023

The Boodles

The National Theatre's award-winning production returns to the West End

By PENDLE HARTE

First seen at the Lyttleton in 2018, The Lehman Trilogy was the most awarded play on Broadway earlier this year, winning Best Play, Best Director, Best Set Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Actor at the 2022 Tony Awards®. It also won the Drama League Award for Best Play and six Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Best Play. Directed by Sam Mendes, it's an ambitious production, its story spanning more than 160 years and several generations of the Lehman family, all played by just three actors who remain on stage for the entirety of the three hour performance. It's the story of the Lehman brothers, but also of America, and its boom-and-bust trajectory. We meet Hayum Lehmann straight o the boat in 1844, arriving in the USA from Germany to make his fortune. Immediately rebranding himself as 'Henry Lehman' and soon joined by his two brothers, he embarks on a business journey that takes him from a small shopkeeper to a founding member of the New York Stock exchange and then governor of New York, and head of a bank. We see him basically invent the concept of brokering, survive the Wall Street Crash and hand the family business over to his son, and the story continues until 2008... and we all know what happens next.

Brilliantly conceived by Es Devlin, the set is a rotating glass box that represents Lehman Brothers' Financial District o ce, complete with the cardboard boxes representative of the bank's collapse. A vast screen behind the stage sets the scene – burning cotton ﬁelds, the New York skyline, the Midwestern landscape – and a solo pianist accompanies the action from the side of the stage. Michael Balogun, Hadley Fraser and Nigel Lindsay play all parts, narrating the fast-paced saga with moments of great comedy. It's a gripping, groundbreaking production.