The Lehman Trilogy, the acclaimed, five-time Tony Award-winning play by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power, will make its Australian premiere at Theatre Royal Sydney from 21 February.

Presented by The National Theatre and Neal Street Productions, in association with Trafalgar Entertainment, the Sam Mendes-directed production tells of the spectacular rise to prominence of the Lehman Brothers, 19th-century Bavarian Jewish immigrants who become Alabama shopkeepers, cotton brokers and directors of one the largest banks in the United States.

It also describes events leading up to the even-more spectacular collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 – a bankruptcy that pushed the world’s banking system over the cliff-edge and into the Global Financial Crisis.

The Lehman Trilogy. Photo © Julieta Cervantes

Mendes’ production features design by Es Devlin, costumes by Katrina Lindsay, video design by Luke Halls, lighting by Jon Clark and music and sound by Nick Powell and co-sound designer Dominic Bilkey.

Massini’s The Lehman Trilogy debuted at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan in 2015, directed by Luca Ronconi (who died later that year). Ben Power was commissioned by Neal Street Productions to create a new version of this epic play, using a literal...