Three actors in “The Lehman Trilogy” play 50 different roles while playing at Huntington Theater

BROCKTON – It’s a daunting undertaking.

Over three hours, the three actors in “The Lehman Trilogy” play more than 50 different roles to take the audience on a nearly 170-year journey through one family’s history.

Steven Skybell, Firdous Bamji and Joshua David Robinson star as the original three Lehman brothers, as well as their sons, grandsons and dozens of other characters.

Robinson describes it as an athletic event, saying “It’s like being asked to operate at peak”.

Bamji said that while all three actors are exhausted at the end of each performance, it’s a thrill Skybell calls it energized and invigorating.

The Tony Award-winning play about the rise and fall of the family behind the Lehman Brothers investment firm begins in 1840s Alabama, when the brothers first arrive from Germany.

It ends in 2008, with the collapse of the company.

The scope of the story gives the three actors the chance to show what can be done on stage.

They told WBZ-TV that the Boston public really appreciated their efforts.

“An audience can see themselves in it where they want to see themselves. And hopefully find a way to be a better American or a person,” Skybell said.

You can see The Lehman Triology at Boston’s Huntington Theater through July 23.