Photo Flash: In Rehearsal with the National Theatre's THE LEHMAN TRILOGY

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 soon joined by his two brothers and an American epic begins. 163 years later the firm they establish, Lehman Brothers, spectacularly collapses into bankruptcy and triggers the largest financial crisis in history. Stefano Massini's vast and poetic play unfolds over three parts in a single evening, opening in the Lyttelton Theatre in July 2018.

Sam Mendes returns to the National Theatre to direct Ben Power's English version of Stefano Massini's vast and poetic play. Adam Godley, Ben Miles andSimon Russell Beale play the Lehman brothers, their sons and grandsons. With set design by Es Devlin, video design by Luke Halls, costume design byKatrina Lindsay, lighting by Jon Clark, music and sound by Nick Powell and movement by Polly Bennett.

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. From a literal English translation by Mirella Cheeseman, Ben Power was commissioned to create a new version of this epic play, which charts the extraordinary story of a family and a company that changed the world.

nationaltheatre.org.uk

Photo Credit: Mark Douet