The Lehman Trilogy

the multi-winner award winner returns

After its sell-out success in London, on Broadway (where it won five 2022 Tony Awards) and beyond, this landmark play returns to the West End for the forth time, returning to the Gillian Lynne Theatre in autumn 2024. 

Adapted from Stefano Massini's vast and poetic play and directed by Sam Mendes, Ben Power's The Lehman Trilogy depicts the journey of one group of men as they create one of the world's most powerful banks and, in turn, one of the world's largest financial crashes. John Heffernan, Aaron Krohn and Howard W. Overshown reprise their roles from the recent San Francisco production, in a collective performance that was described by the city's Mercury news in May 2024 as: "virtuosic, sculpting performances so rich and varied and surprising that you forget it's the same three men all the time."

What is the story?

A show depicting the successes and failures of three generations of Lehmans, beginning with Henry, Emanuel and Mayer, who came from Bavaria and settled in Alabama to make their fortune. The immigrant brothers and their descendants live a story of capitalism; they grapple with a rapidly changing society - one in demand of cotton, coffee, and railways - the next cigarettes, televisions and oil, navigating all the way up to their legacy's collapse into bankruptcy.

The saga of the Lehman brothers is a glimpse into the American dream; a fresh start in a country where anyone willing to demonstrate talent and inventiveness can have it all, but also in which over only a few turns can reverse fortunes and destinies. It charts the transformation of a family's identity, and with the trilogy staged over an extended period of history, it may well entice you to reflect on your own connections to the past.