The Lehman Trilogy

B+

Stefano Massimi’s epic tale of family, faith and finance has undergone major transformation since it first appeared as a radio play in Italy in 2012. First adapted for the stage for a French production, it then appeared in Milan in a version with a large cast. Ben Power, Deputy Artisitic Director of the National Theatre, has cleverly adapted it for an English version with just three actors. But what actors! Simon Russell Beale (Bluebird, Jumpers), Adam Godley (Anything Goes) and Ben Miles (Wolf Hall) give commanding performances in multiple roles of varying ages, genders and social status. One rarely has the opportunity to witness acting at such a consistently fine level. Director Sam Mendes (The Ferryman) deploys his actors well. The set by Es Devlin (Girls and Boys, Machinal) features a giant revolving glass cube furnished like a modern corporate office filled with creatively used bankers boxes. The curved back wall displays a panorama of evocative projections by Luke Halls (Miss Saigon) that, in the third and final act, literally become dizzying. Costume designer Katrina Lindsay (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) dresses the three Lehman brothers in black mid-19th-century garb that they wear throughout the evening. The transformations between roles are accomplished by gesture and voice, without benefit of costume change. The proceedings have piano accompaniment by Candida Caldicot that I found less than compelling. The story cover 164 years from the arrival of Henry Lehman in America to the collapse of the family-founded financial giant in 2008. The story-telling technique makes heavy use of third-person narration, which I find a bit distancing. The play provides a varied series of vignettes that give insight either into the family dynamic or the development of American capitalism or, sometimes, both. The difference in the mourning period accorded each brother traces the “progress” of family and firm. I find the length of the play problematic; it is either too long to hold our close attention or too short to do justice to both the personal and financial stories. I would be curious to know what was cut from the 5-hour Milan version. While I would call this production at Park Avenue Armory a “must-see” for lovers of serious theater, I have to say that I admired it more than I enjoyed it. Running time: 3 hours 25 minutes, including 2 intermissions.