Frontmezzjunkies reports: The Roald Dahl Play Giant Will Bow on Broadway Starring John Lithgow
by Ross
There’s a certain theatrical thrill in seeing John Lithgow step back onto a Broadway stage — and this time, he’s doing it as one of the most complicated figures in children’s literature. Mark Rosenblatt’s Giant, a hit from London’s West End that took home three Olivier Awards (including Best New Play and Best Actor for Lithgow), will cross the Atlantic next spring for its Broadway bow. Performances begin March 11, 2026, at a Shubert theatre yet to be announced, with two-time Tony winner Nicholas Hytner (The History Boys) directing once again.
Rosenblatt’s Giant takes on no small subject. It peers into the towering imagination — and troubling contradictions — of Roald Dahl, the author whose wildly inventive stories shaped generations of readers even as they carried the shadow of prejudice. The play lands squarely inside that tension, exploring how cruelty and creativity coexist in the same mind. It arrives at a moment when the conversation around Dahl’s legacy remains as charged as ever, following the 2023 controversy that saw hundreds of “problematic” words and phrases removed from new editions of his books.
At the heart of Giant is Lithgow (Broadway’s Hillary and Clinton), inhabiting Dahl with a mix of charm, fury, and disarming vulnerability. London critics called his performance “unmissable,” and it’s easy to see why: few actors shift so gracefully between grandeur and humanity. Elliot Levey (West End’s Good), who won the Olivier for Best Supporting Actor, is expected to return for the Broadway run, with further casting still under wraps. Designs are by Bob Crowley (West End/Broadway’s The Inheritance), and the producing team includes Brian and Dayna Lee, Stephanie and Nicole Kramer, Josh Fiedler, Robyn Goodman, and the Royal Court Theatre.
Rosenblatt (“Making Noise Quietly“), whose debut play was famously written at his kitchen table “with no assurance it would ever get produced,” now finds himself heading to Broadway with one of the world’s most accomplished stage actors leading the way. “It’s truly the stuff of dreams,” he said of the transfer. Lithgow echoes that sense of awe, calling Giant “the most challenging and exciting stage experience of my career.”
If the London run is any indication, Giant won’t just revisit Dahl’s imagination — it will interrogate it. This is a story about creation and consequence, about the stories we inherit and the ones we’d rather not. For theatre lovers, and especially for those of us fascinated by how art and morality intersect, Giant may prove to be one of the most talked-about Broadway events of 2026.
