This was something of a tour de force for the three actors who occupy the stage for three hours (with to intervals). The play charts the story of Lehman brothers from the arrival in the 1840s of Henry, the first, eldest, brother in America to the downfall in 2008. Henry is joined by Emanual and Mayer to run the general store in Alabama in the heart of cotton-growing country. They soon evolve the business into one of cotton trading - buying and pooling local harvests and selling to New York where they also set up offices. Then we have the next generation who take the firm forwards as an investment banks, relying on shrewdness to spot opportunities like the railroad. Finally we come to the post war era and the firm's undoing. The trading arm is shown as a less-than-understood cash cow run by outsiders that eventually brings the whole firm down.
It is a fascinating evening that is successful because of an excellent story, fabulous acting by Simon Russell Beale, Ben Miles and Adam Godley and an incredible production by Sam Mendes.
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