John Lithgow Stars in ‘Giant,’ a Broadway Play Tackling Antisemitism

Broadway just welcomed one of its most urgent and uncomfortable productions in years. “Giant,” which opened on March 23 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City, puts the dark side of beloved children’s author Roald Dahl under a harsh spotlight. And it could not have arrived at a more critical moment.

What ‘Giant’ Is Really About

4 The play is set in the summer of 1983. Roald Dahl’s book “The Witches” is about to hit the shelves. But the outcry over his recent, explicitly antisemitic article will not die down. Across a single afternoon at his family home, Dahl is forced to choose: make a public apology or risk his name and reputation. 2 Tony, Golden Globe, and Olivier Award winner John Lithgow reprises his extraordinary, career-defining performance as Roald Dahl. 6 Aya Cash, joining the production and making her Broadway debut, serves as the key dramatic counterweight to Lithgow’s towering presence. 17 While the afternoon gathering between Dahl and his guests is imaginary, Dahl really did draw sharp criticism for an August 1983 essay in the British magazine Literary Review. The article centered on Tony Clifton’s “God Cried,” a picture book about Israel’s 1982 siege of West Beirut in Lebanon.

The real controversy went beyond politics. 12Dahl heavily criticized Israel for its 1982 siege of Beirut that resulted in thousands of deaths. But his attack went further than that, criticizing Jews in blatantly antisemitic terms.

John Lithgow Giant Broadway play Roald Dahl antisemitism 2026

Roald Dahl’s Troubling History With Jewish People

Most people remember Dahl for “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Matilda,” and “James and the Giant Peach.” Few know the man behind those stories held deep hatred toward Jewish people.

21 In 1983, Dahl told Britain’s New Statesman magazine that “there is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity… Even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason.”

That was not a one-time slip. 24In a 1990 interview with The Independent, Dahl said that he had become antisemitic. He died later that year at age 74 without ever publicly apologizing.

21 His family issued a belated apology decades later, stating: “The Dahl family and the Roald Dahl Story Company deeply apologise for the lasting and understandable hurt caused by some of Roald Dahl’s statements.” The apology came three decades after the author’s death.

Key Timeline of the Dahl Antisemitism Controversy:

• 1983: Publishes antisemitic review in Literary Review and gives inflammatory interview to New Statesman
• 1990: Tells The Independent he has “become antisemitic”; dies in November
• 2020: Dahl family issues formal apology, 30 years after his death
• 2023: Puffin Books edits Dahl’s works using sensitivity readers, sparking a separate debate
• 2024: “Giant” premieres at London’s Royal Court Theatre; wins three Olivier Awards
• 2026: Play opens on Broadway at Music Box Theatre

Lithgow Delivers a Performance Critics Are Calling Career-Best

7 The ferocity of John Lithgow’s explosive performance as Roald Dahl seems to show itself right from the start of Mark Rosenblatt’s extraordinary play. 10 When it comes to the 2026 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, John Lithgow is shaping up to be the champion of the world. 12 The veteran actor, now 80 years old, has never been better, providing such a compelling central figure that, despite the fine performances by the rest of the ensemble, “Giant” sometimes has the feel of a one-person play. 5 “Being a part of Giant from its inception has been the most challenging and exciting stage experience of my career,” Lithgow said. “I play the central character of Roald Dahl, a man of dizzying complexity, on a day of crisis in his life. The story takes place forty years ago, but it resonates powerfully with events of our present day. No play I’ve ever been in has had such an impact on audiences.”

The cast also shines alongside Lithgow:

• Aya Cash as Jessie Stone, a fictional American publishing executive sent to convince Dahl to apologize
• Elliot Levey as Tom Maschler, Dahl’s British publisher who is Jewish and a Holocaust survivor
• Rachael Stirling as Felicity “Liccy” Crosland, Dahl’s fiancee
• Stella Everett as Hallie, Dahl’s young cook
• David Manis as Wally, an elderly handyman on the estate

45 Rachael Stirling says she has “never been in a play that provokes such a visceral reaction from the audience.”

Why This Play Hits Harder in 2026 America

16 What gives “Giant” its charge is how closely its questions echo today, amid renewed geopolitical tensions, rising antisemitism, and a culture quick to discard its icons.

The numbers paint a grim picture. 3491% of American Jews say they feel less safe as a Jewish person in the United States due to violent attacks in the past year, and more than half continue to change their behaviors due to fear of antisemitism.

36 The number of Americans categorized as “haters,” people who are outspoken with prejudice against Jews and other groups, has grown from 6% in 2023 to 10% in 2025. 36 About 27% of those polled believe Jews “cause problems in the world,” up from 19% in 2023. And 18% believe Jews are a threat to American unity, up from 12% in 2023.

College campuses have become flashpoints. 3142% of American Jewish college students report experiencing antisemitism during their time on campus.

The violence has been physical, not just verbal. 38On March 12, 2026, a shooting and vehicle-ramming attack occurred at Temple Israel, a Reform synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. 38On International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2026, a rabbi walking to a synagogue in Queens was verbally harassed and physically assaulted.

Can You Separate the Artist From the Art?

That is the central question “Giant” refuses to answer neatly. And that is exactly why it works.

13 The show raises provocative questions: Can you separate a nation from a people? Can you separate an artist from their work? 19 Mark Rosenblatt’s playwriting debut was given a first-rate production by Tony-winning director Nicholas Hytner. 19 Rosenblatt is a brave and intelligent playwright taking on a subject that no one else seems willing to touch. 5 Rosenblatt himself has spoken about the play’s origins: “My debut play Giant was written on spec in my kitchen with no assurance it would ever get produced at all.” Now it is one of the hottest tickets on Broadway.

The play runs at the Music Box Theatre through June 28, 2026. 5It is a strictly limited 16-week engagement. 8A limited number of in-person rush tickets are available at 10am the day of the performance at the box office for $45, with a limit of two per person.

In a world where antisemitism is no longer hiding in the shadows but marching openly on streets, campuses, and social media feeds, “Giant” forces audiences to sit with discomfort. It asks us to look at a man who wrote stories that made millions of children laugh and wonder, and then to confront the poison he carried inside. Dahl’s story is not just history. It is a mirror held up to right now. If you see this play, you will walk out of that theater thinking differently. And right now, thinking differently might be the most important thing any of us can do. Drop your thoughts in the comments below.