It goes without saying that I love any chance I get to see an equity production at Pioneer Theatre Company. Even if it’s a show I don’t love they always execute it with the height of professionalism. On Saturday, however, there was a special degree of excitement with their new show, The Lehman Trilogy for a couple of different reasons. First of all, the play is highly lauded winning 5 Tony Awards including best play in 2021 and it tells the ambitious and sprawling story of the Lehman Brothers Corporation and the 3 Lehman brothers from 1844 to 2008.

Second, it is the first 3 act play with 2 intermissions I’ve ever seen. Third, it is the first production in the new Meldrum Theatre at the Einar Nielsen Fieldhouse and Lastly, it marked my 300th show since I returned to live theatre after the pandemic. What a ride it has been!

Let me say a few words about the new theatre. This is an absolutely beautiful thrust theatre that can accommodate hundreds of patrons in very comfortable chairs (they did an excellent job choosing those chairs out because I was nervous how a 3.5 hour show would be on my back! No problems!) There is space for a orchestra pit if they want and state of the art lighting and other production qualities that should allow PTC and the students at UofU to put on just about anything. I can’t wait to see many a wonderful show at the Meldrum!

As far as the actual play itself it was a fascinating experience. Written by Stefano Massini and adapted to English by Ben Power it is a small production with only 3 in the cast but like I said covers 160 years of American history through the lens of the Lehman Brothers company and family. There were times when the business talk and exposition was a little dry (it got less so in the 3rd act but maybe that’s partly because I am more familiar with recent events than 19th century American history.) Huge praise goes to the amazing 3 actors Jeff Talbot, William Connell and Seth Andrew Bridges in a never-ending stream of roles including switching accents and occasionally playing women.

The director Karen Azenberg keeps the actors moving which helps break up the exposition and helps make it clear when they are transitioning in and out of a character. The costumes by Yoon Bae are kept simple and give hints to the period with things like a top hat and a scarf.

The lighting by Michael Gilliam did a great job at keeping us focused on the 3 actors as they moved across the stage; however, I do think they could have picked a play requiring more ambitious lighting and production for the first test of this new theatre. There’s nothing production-wise that astonishes in The Lehman Trilogy. It’s the acting and writing that stand out and could just have easily been performed in the small Black Box theatre the University has (I saw Cabaret there and it was incredible!) Why not do something that really shows off your new space?

In a way though I can see why they chose The Lehman Trilogy because it captures the history of America and American capitalism just at a time when we are embarking on a perilous election cycle. In a year where it seems hard to believe our 2 options are the best we could come up with it’s helpful to contemplate on how we got here as a nation- a nation of companies and families.

Mostly I recommend seeing The Lehman Trilogy for what will no doubt be some of the best acting of the year. It’s a tour de force from our cast of 3 and it should not be missed.

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