John Lithgow reminds us why Broadway matters.

Every now and then you see a performance so commanding that you forget you are watching an actor.

Giant, starring John Lithgow as children’s author Roald Dahl, is one of those rare evenings.

The play examines the collision between genius and prejudice, focusing on Dahl’s well-documented antisemitic views and the uncomfortable question of whether we can separate an artist from the art they create.

Giant is not light entertainment. No one tap dances. Nobody emerges from a cake. You will not leave humming a catchy tune.

What you will leave with is a head full of questions.

Directed by Nicholas Hytner, the historical drama explores a true 1983 scandal when Dahl was confronted by his inner circle regarding his published antisemitic comments.

Lithgow is extraordinary. At eighty, he dominates the stage with the confidence of someone who has absolutely nothing left to prove.

He is charming, funny, infuriating, arrogant, vulnerable, and frightening often within the same scene.

Critics and audiences have been nearly unanimous in praising his performance, and his recent Tony Award win is well  deserved.

The play itself is intelligent, provocative, and deeply uncomfortable in all the right ways. Rather than offering easy answers, it asks the audience to wrestle with difficult questions about morality, accountability, and the complicated legacy of people we admire.

The Giant supporting cast is fantastic.

In an era when Broadway increasingly resembles a corporate strategy session disguised as entertainment with movie adaptations, sequels, prequels, and reboots, Giant feels refreshingly adult. It trusts the audience to think.

Imagine that!

If theater’s highest purpose is to make us feel, think, argue, and occasionally squirm in our seats, Giant earns its name.

Giant Music Box Theatre 239 West 45th Street New York City. Through June 28th, 2026. Running Time 2:20 with one intermission.