The Lehman Trilogy is a portrait of a rich, powerful Jewish family that put its stamp on New York for several generations. It is also a capitalist fable, an examination of the American Dream, a tragedy of epic proportions… and an inspired piece of theater.
The genesis of the play is equally complex. First written as a book by the Italian novelist Stefano Massini, it was adapted by Ben Power for Britain’s National Theatre, where it went from the West End to Broadway, winning all kinds of prizes along the way. Now it arrives in a road company at the Ahmanson, where it once again is being greeted with huzzahs by appreciative audiences.
Epic though it is in scope—it spans 164 years—the play is performed by a mere three actors: Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley and Howard W. Overshown. They not only impersonate the three brothers who founded a banking dynasty in the USA, but their children, grandchildren, assorted wives, and various business associates. All this on a revolving set backed up by dazzling lighting and video projection. It makes a feast for eyes and ear.
The Lehman Trilogy begins in 1844 Bavaria, where the patriarch of the family, Henry (Beale), runs a fabric shop. A stern, ambitious and far-seeing man, he uproots himself and emigrates to the USA, opening a shop in Montgomery, Alabama, where cotton is king (thanks to the vast plantations worked by hordes of slaves). Henry begins trading in raw cotton, becoming so successful that he is soon able to send for his two brothers, Emanuel (Overshown) and Mayer (Godley). They help build the company and begin investing in other commodities and eventually open an office in New York, where they are instrumental in forming the Wall Street stock exchange (and financing things like major railroads). All this while marrying well, raising progeny, and arguing over strategy, real estate, hobbies, art and personal behavior in a pungent mixture of English, German and Yiddish. The Lehmans may have been immensely wealthy and ambitious but they were not corrupt, dishonest, or ruthless. And one of them, Bobbie, who ran the business from 1925-1969, had a sense of humor and went to nightclubs to dance The Twist.
The fortunes of Lehman Brothers changed radically when Bobbie died and a new Wall Street breed took over: greedy, predator traders who ignored company standards and went for the quick buck, a philosophy that led to the 2008 crash and the humiliating dissolution of the Lehman empire. Thus what once was an inspiring success story becomes a sad, tawdry nightmare.
