The Lehman Trilogy is a saga of the vitality brought to this country by immigrants, good-old American know-how, and overweening ambition. Three brothers, Henry (Simon Russell Beale), Emanuel (Adrian Lester), and Mayer (Adam Godley) make their way to America. While we never understand how they came to make Mobile, Alabama their home base, it’s from here that the Lehman Brothers begin to make their fortune. First, they deal in garments. Then they discover that the buying and selling of cotton is much more lucrative, and in a short amount of time, they’ve made their first fortune. No real thought is given to the institution of slavery and that they’ve made their money on the backs of enslaved people.
This strain of ruthlessness pervades all future dealings. It’s all about making the money, and keeping it in the family.
We feel sympathy on the death of Henry; his brothers are sitting shiva, and observing the traditional method of mourning for a week. Later, this morphs into three minutes of silence in the boardroom to honor another fallen Lehman. With directing by Sam Mendes, what might have become a slog in this three-hours-plus drama on the rise and fall of financial giants, instead keeps us enthralled throughout. The actors are simply phenomenal. They effortlessly slip in and out of characters and situations at a dizzyingly pace. The sets are beautifully fluid, and even the piano player (Candida Caldicot), who sits just below the action, is enchanting. The Lehman Trilogy is, hands down, bewitching must-see theater. I hope we experience much more quality theater this season. In the words of big brother Henry, “Baruch Hashem.”
