Gillian Lynne Theatre – until 20 May 2023
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
5*****
The multi-award winning Lehman Trilogy returns to the West End with an exciting new cast. Packing 164 years of history into a 3-hour play, Ben Power’s adaptation of Stefano Massini’s Italian original charts the rise of the Lehman brothers’ business from newly arrived immigrants owning one store in Alabama to financial giants.
Ben Power’s masterful adaptation uses the rhythms and repetitions of folk tales, with the actors skilfully and charismatically telling the story in the third person creating a stunningly intelligent play that feels both epic and like a sophisticated episode of Jackanory.
The assimilation of the brothers and their families into American culture is made clear by the erosion of accents and traditions brought from the homeland as they expand and create new roles in business. This is history seen through their eyes, so the wars and social upheaval affecting the US are mentioned in passing in terms of the impact on the company. As the generations of Lehmans die and no longer control the board, the events leading to the fall of the bank in 2008 are shown with quiet and fatalistic detachment, contrasting with the visceral portrayal of the Wall Street Crash that the Lehman’s experienced themselves.
Sam Mendes, and West End director Zoé Ford Burnett deliver pacy and intricate action, with the cast moving around Es Devlin’s brilliant set with immaculately choreographed precision. Devlin’s stark glass office and boardroom set revolves as the cast move file boxes to represent everything from carriages to shop counters to the tower of Babel. Projected onto the huge curved wall behind are Luke Halls eerie and atmospheric videos depicting the fields in Alabama, the buildings of New York and unsettling dreamscapes that combine with the spinning set to create fabulously disconcerting and disorienting sequences. Pianist Yshani Perinpanayagam sits at the front of the auditorium like an old fashioned cinema organist and accompanies the play with delightful music that adds further layers to the atmosphere on stage.
The cast are remarkable, playing the three brothers, their children and wives, and assorted businessmen with only the addition of glasses or the flick of a collar. The scenes where various Lehmans woo the women in their lives are a joy, and all three actors are a scream as infants . Nigel Lindsay is wonderful as the solid and confident Henry Lehman, grounding the play with his opening monologue before taking on the more showy and whimsical roles of wives and the almost robotic Philip Lehman. Michael Balogun is equally impressive as Emanuel Lehman, full of fiery gravitas, and Hadley Fraser gives a comedy masterclass as peacemaker Mayer and Philip’s mother. Together the stellar cast weave the intricate story – from gossipy asides and explanations of financial services to gruesome accounts of suicides – with style and charm, keeping the audience in the palms of their hands from beginning to end.
A welcome return for this remarkable play – The Lehman Trilogy is not to be missed.