Gripping history unfolds in sweeping ‘Lehman Trilogy’ at Florida Studio Theatre

On the surface, “The Lehman Trilogy” may not seem like much with just three actors, one set, unchanging costumes and some projections. But what the actors and designers do in telling the fascinating rise and fall of the Lehman Brothers family and financial firm creates a magically captivating and highly theatrical experience at Florida Studio Theatre.

The acclaimed play by Stefano Massini (adapted by Ben Power) does several things at once. It traces the history of the Lehman family from the arrival of the oldest brother, Henry, in the United States in 1844 (joined later by Emanuel and Mayer) and how they turned their dry goods store in Alabama into a series of other careers. They bought and sold cotton and became the first middleman cotton brokers, before expanding their interests into other industries like railroads, real estate and financial services. The family sold its interests in the company years before it collapsed amid the 2008 real estate meltdown.

The personal stories are wrapped up in the history of the United States, from the Civil War to a Spanish Flu outbreak, the 1929 stock market crash and the Depression, and how each one impacted the nation and the family.

And it’s all told with just the three actors, each playing a brother or one of their offspring, various wives, plantation owners, corporate leaders, board members and others speaking directly to the audience.

It is told in a kind of story-theater style as they act out what they’re telling us is happening at any given moment. I worried that direct address might grow tiresome over the three-hour running time, but the story is so engaging, with smart infusions of humor, that the actors keep you involved under the direction of Richard Hopkins, the theater’s producing artistic director, and assisted by Kate Alexander. Hopkins focuses on clarity and humanity as time flies by.

Howard Kaye as Henry, Beethovan Oden as Emanuel and Rod Brogan as Mayer switch off effortlessly among the many characters they play without having to do much physically to distinguish one from another.

Kaye also plays Emanuel’s son Phillip, who expanded the firm's business, and while they wear the same formal wear and long coats (nicely designed by Liz Bourgeois), there’s nothing similar about them. The same is true of Brogan’s Mayer, the quiet peacemaker trying to be heard between his two more boisterous older brothers. He also plays Philip’s son Bobbie, who is casual and more interested in the grand life than the board room.

It falls on Bobbie to keep the company afloat after the stock market crash, though the play doesn’t make clear, beyond his grueling efforts, what he actually did to save Lehman Brothers.

You do get details on some of their romantic efforts, like the way Emanuel goes about winning over Pauline Sondheim to be his wife, or how Philip ranks a series of women for appropriateness as his wife before settling on the average and plain Carrie.

Though there’s barely a hint of any kind of anti-Semitism the family might have faced – you’d expect issues, particularly in mid-19th century Alabama – we do witness the gradual eroding of religious rituals and traditions. When Henry dies they go into a serious period of mourning. A century later, a family death may cause only a brief pause from the usual work day.

The storytelling is enhanced by versatile keyboard player Jim Prosser, who provides a musical backdrop of light and tender melodies as if he were accompanying a silent movie.

The play mixes humanity and humor as it unfolds on a moving platform designed by Isabel and Moriah Curley-Clay that depicts a traditional board room setting with a rich wood table and leather wing chairs, along with bankers' boxes stacked up on the sides. That room rotates each time Mitchell Nalos appears as a janitor to push it around so we watch from a slightly different angle, taking us from that small Alabama storefront to grand homes or their New York City offices, with the help of Ben Rawson’s lighting.

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The projections by Thom Korp provide a series of backdrops that take us to Alabama cotton fields or the ever-changing New York City skyline, though I’m not sure why he shows us the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor for Henry’s arrival, which came more than 40 years before the statue.

But that’s a minor and momentary issue for a successfully ambitious production that truly draws you into this family’s ups and downs (mostly ups) with creativity and heart.

‘The Lehman Trilogy’

By Steffano Massini, adapted by Ben Power. Directed by Richard Hopkins. Runs Jan. 31-March 24. Gompertz Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, 1265 First St., Sarasota. $39-$59. 941-366-9000; floridastudiotheatre.org

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: ‘Lehman Trilogy’ takes audience on a journey through history at FST