Producers the National Theatre and Neal Street Productions announced today that the London return of the critically acclaimed, highly lauded, five-time Tony Award® winning epic THE LEHMAN TRILOGY will play for a limited 17-week season at the Gillian Lynne Theatre from 24 January 2023, with an opening night set for 8 February.
Photography by Nicholas Calcott, featuring Original Broadway Cast.On a cold September morning in 1844, a young man from Bavaria stands on a New York dockside dreaming of a new life in the new world. He is joined by his two brothers, and an American epic begins. 163 years later, the firm they establish – Lehman Brothers – spectacularly collapses into bankruptcy, triggering the largest financial crisis in history. Weaving together nearly two centuries of family history, this New York Times Critics’ pick charts the humble beginnings, outrageous successes, and devastating failure of the financial institution that would ultimately bring the global economy to its knees.
The 2022 Tony Award® winning Best Play is written by Stefano Massini and adapted by Ben Power. Directed by multi-Academy Award®, Tony Award® and Golden Globe winner Sam Mendes, The Lehman Trilogy features a cast of three playing the Lehman brothers, their sons, and grandsons, in an extraordinary feat of storytelling told in three parts on a single evening. The decades unfold within the cinematic sweep of designer Es Devlin’s Tony Award ® winning set. Casting to be announced.
The Lehman Trilogy was the most awarded play this season on Broadway, where alongside Best Play, Best Director and Best Set Design, it also picked up Best Lighting Design and Best Actor. It was also awarded this season’s Drama League Award for Best Play and six Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Best Play.
First commissioned by Neal Street Productions and developed and co-produced with the National Theatre at the Lyttelton theatre in 2018, followed by an acclaimed sold-out run at the Park Avenue Armory in the Spring of 2019, The Lehman Trilogy returned to London for a 16-week sold-out run at the Piccadilly Theatre in the West End from May to August 2019. Following Broadway’s 18-month shutdown, The Lehman Trilogy was the first British play to return to Broadway — where it had previously played four performances in March 2020 — for a much-lauded limited engagement at the Nederlander Theatre from September 2021 – January 2022. A Los Angeles transfer to Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson Theatre followed from March – April 2022.
Prior to this, the world premiere of Stefano Massini’s The Lehman Trilogy opened at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan in 2015. It turned out to be Artistic Director Luca Ronconi’s final production before his death. A long-term admirer of Ronconi’s, Sam Mendes was inspired to begin planning an English adaptation for Neal Street Productions. Ben Power was commissioned by Neal Street Productions to create a new version of this epic play, using a literal English translation by Mirella Cheeseman.
Costume design is by Katrina Lindsay, video design by Luke Halls, and lighting design by Jon Clark. The Composer & Sound Designer is Nick Powell, the Co-Sound Designer is Dominic Bilkey, with music direction by Candida Caldicot, and movement by Polly Bennett. The West End Director is Zoé Ford Burnett. Casting is by Jessica Ronane CDG CSA.
The Lehman Trilogy in the West End is supported by American Express, the National Theatre’s Preferred Card Partner.
Listings Information
The Lehman Trilogy
Dates: From 24 January – 20 May 2023
Press Night: Wednesday 8 February 2023, 7pm
Address: Gillian Lynne Theatre
166 Drury Lane
London, WC2B 5PW
Performances: Mondays – Saturdays at 7pm, with a matinee on Saturdays at 1pm*
*schedule may differ during bank holidays, check website for details
Assisted Performances:
Captioned Performance
Monday 20 February, 7pm
Saturday 18 March, 1pm
Audio Described Performance
Monday 27 February, 7pm
Saturday 25 March, 1pm
BSL Performance
Saturday 11 March, 1pm
