THE LEHMAN TRILOGY
****
Director: Sam Mendes
Screenwriter: Ben Power, an adaptation from the original radio script by Stefano Massini.
Principal cast:
Simon Russell Beale
Adam Godley
Ben Miles
Country: UK
Classification: CTC
Runtime: 210 mins. (inc. two intervals)
Australian release date: Limited release from 31 August 2019
Previewed at: Palace Central, Sydney, on 21 August 2019.
“Three men walk into a glass cube…” It sounds like the beginning of a joke but, in fact, it’s the start of The National Theatre Live’s latest production. The Lehman Trilogy, directed by the Oscar-winning Sam Mendes, is one of several plays being released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of these filmed stage productions, which are broadcast live internationally but on delay here in Australia. Still, at least we get to see these top-notch productions here even if not instantaneously. This latest creation is a co-pro with Mendes’s Neal Street Productions, recently recorded on the stage of London’s Piccadilly Theatre. It has been adapted for the stage by Ben Power, working from the original Italian radio play by Stefano Massini.
Covering the lives of a German-Jewish immigrant dynasty started by the three Lehman Brothers, the story opens in 1844, when Henry Lehman (Simon Russell Beale) arrives in New York and relocates to Montgomery, Alabama, where he sets up a small shop. There, he is joined by his siblings, Emanuel (Ben Miles) and Mayer (Adam Godley). The brothers’ business expands and they become middle-men, buying raw cotton from plantation owners and selling it at a profit. As the years pass and their wealth accumulates, they marry well and move up the ladder of class and status. Eventually, their empire spreads to New York City, where they describe themselves as “merchants of money”. The dynasty grows over the years, and the three actors transform into other members of the family, and all the while Lehman Brothers, as the company is now known, grows and grows, lasting through war and social upheaval, capitalising on every adversity, until it collapses in 2008 and triggers the largest financial crisis in modern history.
This magnificent play is divided into three parts, ‘Three Brothers’, ‘Fathers and Sons’, and ‘The Immortal’, and although long (with two intervals), it is absolutely riveting. Power has whittled Massini’s original work down from some five hours to about three, but the time races by; the last part even seems a bit rushed. His use of language is almost poetic - the three protagonists always speak of themselves in the third person and there is much use of verse-like repetition. The trio of actors are in excellent form and they convey the trials and tribulations of the family history with aplomb as they morph from generation to generation. Their ability to transform into each different character is extraordinary. Credit must also be given to Es Devlin’s superb set design, which is basically a transparent, luminescent cube floating and revolving on stage, becoming a fourth character in the plot. This effect is complemented by video projections on the back wall of the theatre. The action is accompanied by a live piano performance of Nick Powell’s wonderful score by Candida Caldicot, whose interpretation captures every single nuance of the play, commenting on the events we see before us.
The Lehman Trilogy is a triumph, an epic examination of the fate of a single family that mirrors the trajectory of Western Capitalism over the course of 163 years. It’s astonishing on every level.
Screenwriter: Ben Power, an adaptation from the original radio script by Stefano Massini.
Principal cast:
Simon Russell Beale
Adam Godley
Ben Miles
Country: UK
Classification: CTC
Runtime: 210 mins. (inc. two intervals)
Australian release date: Limited release from 31 August 2019
Previewed at: Palace Central, Sydney, on 21 August 2019.
“Three men walk into a glass cube…” It sounds like the beginning of a joke but, in fact, it’s the start of The National Theatre Live’s latest production. The Lehman Trilogy, directed by the Oscar-winning Sam Mendes, is one of several plays being released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of these filmed stage productions, which are broadcast live internationally but on delay here in Australia. Still, at least we get to see these top-notch productions here even if not instantaneously. This latest creation is a co-pro with Mendes’s Neal Street Productions, recently recorded on the stage of London’s Piccadilly Theatre. It has been adapted for the stage by Ben Power, working from the original Italian radio play by Stefano Massini.
Covering the lives of a German-Jewish immigrant dynasty started by the three Lehman Brothers, the story opens in 1844, when Henry Lehman (Simon Russell Beale) arrives in New York and relocates to Montgomery, Alabama, where he sets up a small shop. There, he is joined by his siblings, Emanuel (Ben Miles) and Mayer (Adam Godley). The brothers’ business expands and they become middle-men, buying raw cotton from plantation owners and selling it at a profit. As the years pass and their wealth accumulates, they marry well and move up the ladder of class and status. Eventually, their empire spreads to New York City, where they describe themselves as “merchants of money”. The dynasty grows over the years, and the three actors transform into other members of the family, and all the while Lehman Brothers, as the company is now known, grows and grows, lasting through war and social upheaval, capitalising on every adversity, until it collapses in 2008 and triggers the largest financial crisis in modern history.
This magnificent play is divided into three parts, ‘Three Brothers’, ‘Fathers and Sons’, and ‘The Immortal’, and although long (with two intervals), it is absolutely riveting. Power has whittled Massini’s original work down from some five hours to about three, but the time races by; the last part even seems a bit rushed. His use of language is almost poetic - the three protagonists always speak of themselves in the third person and there is much use of verse-like repetition. The trio of actors are in excellent form and they convey the trials and tribulations of the family history with aplomb as they morph from generation to generation. Their ability to transform into each different character is extraordinary. Credit must also be given to Es Devlin’s superb set design, which is basically a transparent, luminescent cube floating and revolving on stage, becoming a fourth character in the plot. This effect is complemented by video projections on the back wall of the theatre. The action is accompanied by a live piano performance of Nick Powell’s wonderful score by Candida Caldicot, whose interpretation captures every single nuance of the play, commenting on the events we see before us.
The Lehman Trilogy is a triumph, an epic examination of the fate of a single family that mirrors the trajectory of Western Capitalism over the course of 163 years. It’s astonishing on every level.