The story of the Lehman brothers — Henry, Emanuel and Mayer — is so sweeping that it encompasses 163 years of family history; so sweeping that in novelist/playwright Stefano Massini’s “The Lehman Trilogy” it takes three hours onstage to tell.
“It is epic theater telling,” said Kim Strassburger, who is directing Cygnet Theatre’s production of “The Lehman Trilogy” that stars Bruce Turk, Steven Lone and Jacob Caltrider. “It speaks a lot about family, legacy, the American dream and to the immigrant experience we all share.”
Kim Strassburger is directing “The Lehman Trilogy” for Cygnet Theatre. (Moxie Theatre)
While the Lehmans’ story is indelibly tied to the 2008 financial crisis in which Lehman Brothers Inc. collapsed and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (with devastating consequences for many Americans), that is only part of Massini’s play adapted by Ben Power.
“The play is not ‘The Big Short’ Live,’” Strassburger said. “It doesn’t spend that much time on 2008. That’s there, but the play itself is more about the family, about the Jewish experience of these three brothers immigrating from Germany in the 1840s. It’s about decisions that they and their descendants make to try and capture that American dream.
“That’s what people will get from it. What does it mean to have family, to strive for that dream, and where are the perils and pitfalls? It’ not always a story of conquest and triumph. It can be cautionary. That’s why this is a uniquely American tale,” Strassburger said.
Lone is one of the three storytellers on Cygnet’s rectangular Dottie Studio Theatre stage.
“From an actor’s perspective,” Lone said, “this is a dream to get an opportunity to do a piece like this. You get to flex your muscles in trying to play about 70 characters between the three of us. Some are really quick in-and-outs. The challenge is how do you make each one distinct?”
He calls “The Lehman Trilogy” team “one of the most talented crews and casts that I’ve been a part of in my career thus far. Immediately I knew I was with heavy hitters talent-wise, experience-wise and preparation-wise.”
Strassburger considers herself “honored to be in the room with them (the actors) and our creative team. Everyone on this production is bringing their ‘A game.’ For me, I love baseball. It’s as if I have Aaron Judge, Manny Machado and (Shohei) Otani.”
The original Massini text of “The Lehman Trilogy” was just composed of epic poems. After being produced as a fully realized play at the National Theatre in London in 2018, it moved to Broadway two years later. Following a COVID-pandemic-forced hiatus, it returned in the fall of 2021 and would go on to win five Tony Awards.
“I have loved this show ever since I saw it on tour at the Ahmanson (in Los Angeles),” said Strassburger. “Even if it wasn’t an epic undertaking, I would still be drawn to the story. We’re all immigrants, whether it’s first-generation or fourth, like me. Whoever’s decided to leave their country and come to America had the bravery and the fortitude that is in keeping with ‘The Lehman Trilogy.’”
Lone, whose mother immigrated from El Salvador, fleeing a civil war, said he was hooked on the immigration story in the play.
“We forget sometimes as generations go on that there’s a dilution of tradition and what the point was,” Lone said. “I sometimes have to be reminded of my own mother’s struggle to come over here and build herself a life and end up with a career in government. What am I doing to make her struggle worth it?”
“We need to just pause and think about those who came before us.”
‘The Lehman Trilogy’
When: Previews, Wednesday through next Friday. Opens March 28 and runs through April 26. 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, 1 and 7 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays
Where: Cygnet Theatre’s Dottie Studio Theatre, 2880 Roosevelt Road, Arts District Liberty Station
Tickets: $68 and up
Phone: 619-337-1525
Online: cygnettheatre.com