Most of us only know Lehman Brothers as a greedy bank that didn’t get bailed out in the 2008 financial crisis and shut down, but there was so much more to their history. The Lehman Trilogy, playing now at The Arden Theatre, tells the epic story that turned 3 poor, Jewish, immigrant brothers into an American institution of capitalism, and eventually into nothing.
The Lehman Trilogy was written by Stefano Massini, an Italian playwright who tapped in to the pathos of a deeply American story and went on to win a Tony Award for Best Play in 2022. Henry, Emanuel, and Mayer Lehman were three Jewish brothers from Bavaria who immigrated to the United States in the 1840s and found a home in Montgomery, Alabama. Their desire to make it in America led to the transition from their modest fabrics shop into titans of the cotton industry. They continued innovating, bringing the brothers and their ancestors to the New York Stock Exchange, surviving the Great Depression, becoming a venture capital behemoth, and eventually having nothing to do with the company as generations passed. The history is genuinely fascinating, and The Arden stages it beautifully.
Directed by Terrence J. Nolen, longtime producing artistic director of The Arden Theatre, this production is excellent. It’s a three hour play spanning over 150 years of history in three acts, but the terrific pacing keeps you entertained the entire time. With three actors playing dozens of people over a vast history, it might be easy to confuse characters or the family tree, but this production keeps things crystal clear.
The three-man cast is excellent across the board. Scott Greer, one of Philadelphia’s finest actors, plays Henry Lehman. Greer opens the show and introduces us to the Lehman family. As history advances, he plays a multitude of characters, bringing to each a believability regardless of age or even sex. Charlie DelMarcelle plays Emanuel Lehman, the middle brother who helped propel the company to New York after Henry’s passing. DelMarcelle plays everything from stern as Emanuel to hilarious as future Governor Herbert Lehman. Rounding out the cast is Akeem Davis as Mayer Lehman, giving an excellent performance in act three as the last member of the Lehman family to lead the company.
The Lehman Trilogy is an excellent piece of theater. It takes what could be a history lesson and turns it into an entertaining epic that highlights themes within American capitalism, Judaism, immigration, generational trauma, and more. The Arden Theatre reliably showcases excellent productions, and this is no different. The Lehman Trilogy at The Arden is a fascinating drama that needs to be widely seen.