Everything you need to know about 'The Lehman Trilogy' in the West End

Winner of five Tony Awards, the epic family drama directed by Sam Mendes is returning to the West End this autumn.

Money makes the world go round, and no one knows that better than those who started out without much of it. From a dry goods store in Alabama to a worldwide financial empire, the three Lehman brothers started something huge – but, generations later, it all came crashing down. High finance can be a real roller coaster.

But you don’t need to have any knowledge of business or the financial industries to be utterly gripped by The Lehman Trilogy which began its U.K. life at the National Theatre and is now back in the West End by popular demand, playing at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. There’s nothing dry about this story or the way it’s told, and it’s also very funny.

Read on to learn more about The Lehman Trilogy.

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What is The Lehman Trilogy about?

The Lehman Trilogy is a generation-spanning epic play based on the true story of three Jewish brothers, Henry, Emanuel and Mayer Lehman, who came from humble beginnings in Germany between 1822-30, and emigrated to the United States in the 1840s.

Henry Lehman opened a dry goods store in Alabama, and his bartering skills (especially in relation to the cotton trade) ultimately led to the establishment of a bank that became the fourth largest firm in the United States. The Lehman family ran the bank until 1969.

However, the American Dream is a fickle beast and business methods change. In 2007, Lehman Brothers shocked the world when it filed for the largest bankruptcy suit in American history. Charting such extreme highs and lows, the world of high finance has never been so compelling!

When can I see The Lehman Trilogy?

The Lehman Trilogy runs between 24 September 2024 – 5 January, 2025. Performances take place between Monday-Saturday at 7pm (note the early start for a long play), with Saturday matinees at 1pm.

Where can I see The Lehman Trilogy?

The Lehman Trilogy is being performed at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, Drury Lane. The 1970s venue, formerly the New London Theatre and now named after the legendary choreographer, has a 1,300-seat capacity.

The theatre is probably best-known for its long runs of Cats and War Horse, and recent productions include Standing at the Sky’s Edge, Crazy for You, and a previous run of The Lehman Trilogy.

How long is The Lehman Trilogy?

The epic scope of The Lehman Trilogy spans 3 hours 20 minutes. There are two intervals.

Who wrote The Lehman Trilogy?

The Lehman Trilogy is written by Italian playwright and novelist Stefano Massini. Born in Florence in 1975, Massini began his theatrical career at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. He is the recipient of the Vittorio Tondelli prize and the Ubu award.

The play has been translated into English by Mirella Cheeseman and adapted by Ben Power. Power is an associate director of the National Theatre and has adapted Ibsen’s Emperor and Galilean and Euripides’ Medea, which was performed by Helen McCrory.

Has The Lehman Trilogy been performed before?

The Lehman Trilogy was first performed in a French translation at Comédie de Saint-Étienne in France in 2015, and was then performed in Italian at Piccolo Teatro di Milano.

The play’s English-language debut took place in the National Theatre’s Lyttelton Theatre in July 2018, starring Simon Russell Beale, Ben Miles, and Adam Godley. The show transferred to New York’s Park Avenue Armory in March 2019. The production then returned to London for a run at the Piccadilly Theatre. It returned to New York, this time at Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre before playing at Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theatre.

The play returned to the West End at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in 2023, followed by an international tour. This run will mark the third time it has played in the West End.

In our five-star review of the show’s first outing in the West End, London Theatre’s critic observed that “the scope of the play is quite unbelievable, but Power's script is expertly paced… the narration elevates the storytelling to something like biblical authority and allows the characters to express their ambitions, fears and motivations with clarity and great humour.”

What awards has The Lehman Trilogy won?

The original London production was nominated for five Olivier Awards. The Broadway production was nominated for eight Tony Awards and won five, including:

• Best Play
• Best Actor in a Play for Simon Russell Beale
• Best Direction of a Play for Sam Mendes
• Best Scenic Design in a Play for Es Devlin
• Best Lighting Design in a Play for Jon Clark

Which actors are in The Lehman Trilogy?

The Lehman Trilogy is performed by three actors who play the three brothers and multi-task in dozens of other roles. At the Gillian Lynne Theatre, the roles are played by John Heffernan, Howard W. Overshown and Aaron Krohn, reprising their roles from the European tour.

John Heffernan plays Henry Lehman. Heffernan’s theatre credits include Much Ado About Nothing, Edward II, and She Stoops to Conquer at the National Theatre, and Nachtland and Macbeth at the Young Vic. His screen credits include A Gentleman in Moscow, Becoming Elizabeth, and The Pursuit of Love.

Playing Emanuel Lehman, American actor Howard W. Overshown has appeared on Broadway in A Soldier’s Play, Julius Caesar, Saint Joan, and A View from the Bridge, among others.

Fellow American actor Aron Krohn plays Mayer Lehman. Krohn’s Broadway credits include The Height of the Storm, Summer, and Cabaret.

The actors are accompanied by pianist Cat Beveridge and alternate pianist Anyssa Neumann.

Who are the characters in The Lehman Trilogy?

The Lehman Trilogy includes the following characters:

• Henry Lehman: the go-getting eldest brother who kickstarted the family's success story with his dry-goods store in Alabama. However, Henry died of yellow fever at the age of 32 and didn't live to see the family business move to New York and become a major investment bank.
• Emanuel Lehman: the pragmatic middle child, also a philanthropist who donated $100,000 to the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York. He married Pauline Sondheim (any relation to Stephen Sondheim?).
• Mayer Lehman: the often underestimated youngest brother, also a renowned philanthropist, particularly to Mount Sinai Hospital.

The three actors play a multitude of other roles, including family members, employees, investors, and many more. The multi-roleing is extraordinary.

Who is in The Lehman Trilogy creative team?

The Lehman Trilogy is directed by Sam Mendes. Mendes won an Oscar for American Beauty and his other films include Revolutionary Road, Skyfall, Spectre, 1917, and Empire of Light. He is the former artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse and a three-time Olivier Award winner and two-time Tony winner. He was knighted in 2020.

Set designer Es Devlin, who is known for her sculptural approach towards theatre design, is an Olivier winner for Chimerica and The Nether, and a Tony winner for The Lehman Trilogy.

Lighting design is by Jon Clark, who won an Olivier for The Inheritance and a Tony for The Lehman Trilogy. Video designer Luke Halls is a multi-disciplinary artist whose other theatre credits include The Little Big Things and The Book of Dust.

Our reviewer at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in 2023 noted that “no praise is too high for Sam Mendes’s production and an assemblage of design creatives that reveals Es Devlin’s sets, Jon Clark’s lighting, and Luke Halls’s video work as star turns all their own.”

What are some fun facts about The Lehman Trilogy?

• You may well be familiar with designer Es Devlin's striking work without realising it: she designed the London Olympics closing ceremony in 2012, and the Rio Olympics opening ceremony in 2016.
• Movement director Polly Bennett coached Oscar-winner Rami Malek for Bohemian Rhapsody and helped Austin Butler to embody the legendary musician in Elvis.
• Money is intrinsically dramatic and filled with tension. Other plays that explore the pursuit and acquisition of wealth include The Alchemist and Volpone by Ben Jonson, The Good Person of Szechwan by Bertolt Brecht, and Serious Money by Caryl Churchill.

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Photo credit: the cast of The Lehman Trilogy. (Photo courtesy of production)