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Giant Opens on Broadway With John Lithgow as Roald Dahl

The transfer confronts Roald Dahl’s antisemitic record to press how audiences should weigh art against harm.

Overview

  • Giant, which opened Monday at the Music Box Theatre, begins a limited Broadway run through June 28 with Nicholas Hytner directing.
  • The play stages a 1983 showdown after Dahl’s published remarks about Israel that many denounced as antisemitic, focusing on a push by his publishers for an apology.
  • Reviews single out John Lithgow’s performance as a major draw, with Aya Cash’s Broadway debut noted, as some critics find the two-act, debate-driven structure overlong.
  • Coverage frames the drama as newly urgent given current IsraelPalestine tensions and rising antisemitism, with outlets split on the play’s ending and pacing.
  • The production arrives from a lauded West End run that won three 2025 Olivier Awards, and it lands as Dahl’s legacy faces renewed scrutiny after a 2020 family apology and 2023 edits to his books.