. . . AND BUSY MENDES GOES FOR THE TREBLE

SAM MENDES will direct a mammoth drama about the creation — and devastation — of investment bank Lehman Brothers.

The Lehman Trilogy, a joint effort between the National and Neal Street Productions, will run on the South Bank next year.

Ben Power, the NT’s deputy artistic director, has translated Stefano Massini’s trilogy, which was staged at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan two years ago.

It starts with a farming merchant from Bavaria, who sails to New York in 1844 and establishes what will become a venerable financial institution — and concludes when titanic infighting causes the fall of the company. Mendes has already begun the casting process and will certainly put the plays on before he heads to New York — hopefully in the autumn of 2018 — for the Broadway production of Jez Butterworth’s hit The Ferryman, which opened at the Royal Court and continues to play to full capacity at the Gielgud Theatre.

(Each time I’ve been in the vicinity, I’ve spotted a star emerging from the foyer or making their way to the stage door: Nicole Kidman one night; Rupert Grint and Christopher Nolan the next.)

Mendes will be busy, too, with major film work being planned.