"Giant," Mark Rosenblatt's Olivier Award-winning play about Roald Dahl's antisemitism, opened on Broadway on March 23 with John Lithgow in the title role. [1] The production, which transferred from London's West End after runs at the Royal Court Theatre and Harold Pinter Theatre, is playing a limited 16-week engagement.

The New York Times review called Lithgow "a study in monstrosity," praising his portrayal of Dahl as both charming children's author and unrepentant bigot. The play is set over a single afternoon in 1983, when Dahl's publisher sends a young editor -- who happens to be Jewish -- to convince the writer to tone down his public antisemitism before it damages book sales.

Variety's review noted that Lithgow plays "an antisemitic Roald Dahl to tremendous effect," while the Chicago Tribune described the production as "a fight over antisemitism" that forces audiences to grapple with uncomfortable questions about separating art from artist.

The Times of Israel observed that the play arrives at a moment when antisemitism is rising globally, giving it "an eerily contemporary" resonance. Roald Dahl's family issued a belated apology for his antisemitism in 2020, but as the play demonstrates, Dahl himself never recanted.

The New Yorker profiled playwright Rosenblatt, noting that in his first draft, Dahl doubled down offstage. In the final version, Dahl's refusal to repent becomes the dramatic engine. Director Nicholas Hytner, who also directed the London productions, guides the production with precision.

"Giant" runs through July at a Broadway theater. Tickets are selling briskly.

-- CAMILLE BEAUMONT, New York