The Lehman Trilogy New West End Casting Announced

Casting has been announced for the spring season return of the award-winning play The Lehman Trilogy in the West End.

The epic production, written by Stefano Massini and adapted by Ben Power, will run for a limited 17-week season at the Gillian Lynne Theatre from 24 January to 20 May, with an opening night on 8 February.

The Lehman Trilogy premiered at the National Theatre in 2018, and later transferred to the Piccadilly Theatre. It won five Tony Awards, including Best New Play and Best Director awarded to Sam Mendes (The Ferryman). Mendes is also an Academy Award and Golden Globe winner.

The story is told in three parts on a single evening and follows the powerful banking Lehman dynasty. The year is 1844, and a young man from Bavaria, joined by his two brothers, stands on a New York Dockside dreaming of a better life.

The cast for the new West End run will consist of Michael Balogun (Death of England: Delroy) in the role of Emanuel Lehman, accompanied by Hadley Fraser (Coriolanus) playing the role of Mayer Lehman and Nigel Lindsay (The Pillowman) in the role of Henry Lehman.

These roles were previously played by Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley, and Ben Miles.

Joining the cast will be pianist Yshani Perinpanayagam.

The understudy roles will be played by Ravi Aujla as Emanuel Lehman, Will Harrison-Wallace as Mayer Lehman and Leighton Pugh as Henry Lehman. Erika Gundesen will be the understudy pianist.

Set design is signed by Tony Award-winner Es Devlin (The Crucible), costume design is done by Katrina Lindsay, video design by Luke Halls, light design by Jon Clark, and sound design by Nick Powell.

In a five-star review of The Lehman Trilogy for London Theatre, the critic wrote:

“The production is epic. Divided into three acts of almost an hour each, it covers the history of this family over almost two centuries. The scope of the play is quite unbelievable, but Power's script is expertly paced, with the dialogue set to the soundtrack of Candida Caldicot's beautiful piano, rhythmic like a divine clock compelling time onwards.”