Alex Kingston’s fine Prospero weathers an RSC concept storm; the 21st century erupts into a tale of 18th century gender subversion; and illusion captivates in a revival of Sam Mendes’s banking saga
The frantic world of finance moves fast, its giddy successes and thundering crashes causing ripples - sometimes tsunami waves - that affect us all. When director Sam Mendes and adaptor Ben Power first brought the story of the Lehman family to the National Theatre stage in 2018, a mere decade had past since the catastrophic economic crash, triggered by the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, in 2008. In the five intervening years we have seen the effects of a Trump presidency, Brexit, a European war and the Truss mini-budget.
Sam Mendes' The Lehman Trilogy has criss-crossed the Atlantic since 2008, picking up numerous nominations and awards along the way. An epic history of Western capitalism and a masterclass in theatrical storytelling, it now makes a dazzling return to the West End’s Gillian Lynne Theatre.