The Lehman Trilogy returns to the West End to much fanfare after a triumphant, almost non-stop transatlantic run since its National Theatre opening in 2018. But does it live up to the hype? In short, yes, it probably does. Directed by titan of stage and screen Sam Mendes, this Tony Award-winning production’s longevity is a testament to the power of its compelling narrative. It is raw, unflinching entertainment buttressed by a deftly crafted script and underpinned by first-class performances.
It is not easy to bring an audience with you for over 200 minutes. It is perhaps even harder using a mostly third-person dialogue delivered by just three actors. Add to that a stripped-back set, lack of high-end special effects or full musical score. (There is an enchanting underscore played by a lone pianist Cat Beveridge; it seamlessly melds with the drama and is reminiscent of black and white silent movies deriving from eras the play depicts.) And yet, somehow this performance manages to keep pace – held together by masterful acting.
Packing 163 years of history into one play is no easy task. But that’s what this performance sets out to do. Cast Leighton Pugh (a brilliant understudy in the performance I attended) Aaron Krohn and Howard W. Overshown execute it with aplomb. We are taken through the perspectives of various generations of the Lehman family. Starting with Henry Lehman’s arrival to New York in September 1844 on a boat from Germany, and concluding with their bank’s well-documented demise.
Everything takes place encased in giant rotating set decked out like the interior of a generic modern office building. There is use of anachronisms, such as those iconic boxes staff were forced to carry containing their possessions upon Lehman Brothers’ insolvency. And a monochrome backdrop peppered with epic American scenes help create an almost euphoric and heady atmosphere.
One critique has been that it does not dwell on the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and its ensuing fallout. Some have argued that this omission renders the story somehow incomplete. For me, this misses the point. To begin with, it has been done. We all know the evil bankers are villains of the piece. Instead, Ben Power’s adaption of Stefano Massini’s script crafts something of a microcosm of the entrepreneurial free enterprise that defines the American disposition.
It is an altogether more human portrayal of an often faceless and harsh corporate world. Overall, the audience is invited to draw their own conclusions rather than feel scorn for this drama’s main protagonists. In any case, chiaroscuro lighting and intense nightmare scenes serve as a fitting vehicle to warn against the consequences of avarice.
The lack of any real female perspective or portrayal of women – other than droll lampooning caricatures, which attract much derision – has been noted in previous appraisals. It is a fair point. But I am not sure it takes away from the overall impact of the play – whose goal, after all, is to entertain. And it does that by the bucketful.
Its dramatic denouement culminates in a technicolour pastiche of the moments building up to the infamous Lehman Brothers collapse of 2008. A standing ovation met the cast shortly after. This show is “quite simply, theatre at its finest,” Gillian Lynne Theatre patron Andrew Lloyd Webber gushes in a glossy programme note.
It is, quite simply, hard to argue with that.
The Lehman Trilogy is playing a strictly limited run at the Gillian Lynne Theatre until January 5, 2025
