It’s a Tony Award winning story which puts faces on one of the most infamous names in banking history.
The Lehman Trilogy tells the story of three immigrant brothers who founded what would become the fourth largest investment bank in the United States. Its collapse was one of the triggers of the global financial crisis in 2007 and 2008. The play uses the brothers story to examine capitalism.
"This story reminds us that in this country of all the things that are possible, all the things we can achieve in this country, and at the same time, all the things that can go wrong," said Oanh Nguyen, who is the director of the Ensemble Theater Company's production of The Lehman Trilogy.
Three actors play Henry, Emanuel, and Mayer Lehman, the three Lehman brothers, as well as all of the sidebar characters in the play.
"We take the Lehman family and we follow them. We meet them in the mid-1800's, when they come to America as immigrants from Bavaria (Germany)," said Chris Butler, who plays plays Emanuel Lehman.
"We follow them all the way through the early 2000's, and the financial crisis," said Butler. "I think its a very novel theatrical experience. You actually follow that family for about 200 years."
"My sense is for most people, Lehman Brothers doesn't even conjure the image of actual people," said Leo Marks, who plays Mayer Lehman. "They see a skyscraper, they see a crashing stock market." He said when people learn they were actually brothers and business partners in the 1800's, they get curious
Actor Troy Blendell says like most people, he didn’t know much about the Lehmans before stepping into the production. He said it’s a compelling look at history, including another financial collapse, the 1929 stock market crash.
"The Great Depression is a really big part of this play. It's the same kind of greed maybe...trying for too much," said Blendell. "We're presenting what I think may be a cautionary tale."
Director Oanh Nguyen believes this mix of real-life drama, and history makes for a compelling play. "In one way, it's an epic docudrama, this historic piece which happens over three acts," said Nguyen. "Each act is about an hour, so it feels like you are binging this docudrama on Netflix."
He said it's kind of like a ghost story, where these three brothers show up and warn us about what can go wrong.
Productions of the play been staged in London and New York, and the story has also been turned into a novel.
The Lehman Trilogy has Thursday and Friday night previews, and premieres Saturday night. The Ensemble Theater Company production runs through April 21 at Santa Barbara’s New Vic Theater.
