The current Broadway season has offered at least two altogether magnificent new plays, not including the spring offerings to come (at least one of which, based on its excellent London production, is likely to join that stellar pair). But the attention of theatergoers in search of dramatic excellence detours this week to Lenox Hill, where The Lehman Trilogy is on vibrant if altogether too brief display at the Park Avenue Armory through April 20.
The advance word from the London premiere at the National Theater last July has resulted in what appears to be a virtually sold-out run. Most fortunate are those who took the hint and pounced when tickets went on sale in September. There still seem to be a small quantity of premium seats in the racks, for those so inclined. In any case, The Lehman Trilogy is an astonishing theatrical event not to be missed.
What precisely, you may ask, is The Lehman Trilogy? It’s a comprehensive but crystal-clear chronicle of three penniless German immigrants to the United States from Bavaria, the first arriving in 1844. The woefully out-of-place Lehman brothers establish a small fabric shop in sleepy Montgomery, Alabama, specializing in cheap materials suitable for plantation-slave apparel.
[Read Elysa Gardner’s ★★★★★ review here.]
Brothers Henry (Simon Russell Beale), Emanuel (Ben Miles), and Mayer (Adam Godley) display considerable antagonism toward each other, finding common ground only in their desire for untold wealth. In short order, they realize they can make higher profits by adding pre-made clothing, even more by selling seeds and farm implements to planters, and even more by purchasing raw cotton from all the local plantations and selling/transporting it to manufacturers up North. At this point, as is so clearly and—yes, excitingly—told, they come to the realization that there is far more to be earned in the United States by being what they term “middlemen.” Especially because in this guise they needn’t grow the material, manufacture the material, or even personally handle it: Just take a substantial guaranteed profit from the seller and an immoderate profit on the other end.
The Civil War, the destruction it wrought, and the ruination of the plantation system propel them to relocate to Manhattan, switching from cotton to coffee brokering. Within a quarter century, the Lehmans progress from shopkeepers to wholesalers to bankers, taking their place among the wealthy Jewish millionaires of the Gilded Age. The firm moves into commodities, stocks, underwriting, and other financial activities. Under the stewardship of the last surviving family member, Lehman Brothers moves into more questionable areas which culminate in the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history during the financial crisis of 2008.
This is a lot to chew upon—160 years-worth of family and economics—told in three acts that breeze by. The production, under the direction of Sam Mendes (of The Ferryman and other theatrical miracles), is altogether stunning. Most astoundingly, this sprawling story, which features dozens of characters who interact with the brothers and their heirs, is performed almost entirely by the cast of three. There is also a protean accompanist, Candida Caldicott, accompanying the otherwise recorded music by Nick Powell from an upright piano at the lip of the stage.
There is little one can say about the actors, whose combined accomplishments here are breathtaking. Beale is regularly hailed as one of the great actors of the English-speaking stage; this performance handily supports that statement. His Henry serves as the anchor of the production, while his rendition of precocious nephew Philip Lehman—from childhood till death—is altogether delectable. Miles’ Emanuel is the odd man of the three brothers; he later shines as the crusading nephew Herbert, who replaced president-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt as governor of New York and later spent two terms in the U.S. Senate. Godley’s awkward Mayer is the peacemaker of the trio, smoothing over every obstacle. He is entrancing as Robert, the last of the Lehmans (whose collection of paintings remains one of the glories of the Metropolitan Museum). While the entire production is identical—and identically excellent—to what I saw at the National in September, Godley’s final sequence featuring the last Lehman in a dance-of-death now seems even more gripping.
While these actors have worked mostly in England, they are each recognizable to Broadway audiences for their brief past visits, which earned them each a Tony nomination: Beale for Jumpers, Miles for Wolf Hall, and Godley as the British lord in the Sutton Foster Anything Goes.
The vast Armory stage features a gleamingly massive glass cube on a central turntable, which serves all the diverse locales. The scenery comes from Es Devlin (Machinal at the Roundabout); the intricate, pinpoint lighting, which illuminates not only the playing area but the vast side areas, from Jon Clark; the powerful video elements, on the cyclorama which stretches behind it all, from Luke Halls; and the all-encompassing soundscape from composer Powell. Costume designer Katrina Lindsay (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) has a mere three costumes to contribute, drab black 19th century undertaker suits, but these are remarkably versatile: The actors, when called upon to play coquettish wives and lovers, appear to be suitably gowned though it’s just these same black suits with highly adaptable “tails.” All of which demonstrates what can be accomplished by a director teamed with complementary designers, all of whom will stop at nothing to accomplish the finest possible results. (This equally applies to other recent National Theatre productions, including War Horse and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.)
With so much to be said about The Lehman Trilogy, there is little space to go into the fascinating details of the adaptation. The piece began in 2012 as an Italian radio play by Stefano Massini. This was developed into a full-length, French play, which premiered at director Arnaud Meunier’s Comédie de Saint-Etienne in Paris in 2013, and has since been seen across Europe in numerous languages. The National paired Mendes with deputy artistic director Ben Power, who wrote the English adaptation. Most critically, Mendes and Power came up with the three-actor concept, which brings such focus and fascination to this production. The cast apparently participated in the long developmental process, and it shows. Despite this involved, international gestation, the play itself is a concise and pointed chronicle of the growth of our American experience, both socially and economically.
Following the play’s New York engagement, the cast will return to London for a 12-week stint opening May 22 at the Piccadilly. While I wouldn’t say that this in itself is a reason for an overseas trek, those who miss the show at the Armory and have London plans will be wise to make arrangements now, as that engagement—too—is already well-sold. And maybe, if we hold our breath, the National Theatre and coproducer Neal Street Productions (in which Mendes is a principal) will follow London with a Broadway visit in the fall? The demand is clearly there, dependent upon the stamina of the Messrs. Beale, Miles and Godley.
The Lehman Trilogy opened March 27, 2019, at the Park Avenue Armory and runs through April 20. Tickets and information: armoryonpark.org
