Giant by Mark Rosenblatt. Jerwood Downstairs, Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, London until 16 November 2024.

5✩✩✩✩✩ Review: William Russell.

 “Lithgow dominates the evening, all elegant charm…”

Roald Dahl was more than a great writer of children's stories. He was a man of many opinions and unafraid of telling the world what they were. This slow to start but gripping first play by Mark Rosenblatt is based on what might have happened in 1989 when he was living with his fiance and long time mistress,     in Great Missenden, The Witches was about to be published, and his publishers, Tom Maschler and one from America, had come to urge him to apologise for what he had said in a blatantly anti semitic book revue which, they feared, could damage the sales of his own book. John Lithgow is a superb Dahl, and he gets fine support from Rachel Sterling as his fiance, Romola Garai as the American visitor, and Elliott Levey as Maschler. Directed by Nicholas Hytner it launches David Byrne's reign as the Court's director in stunning style. This is just the sort of evening one expects at this theatre. Dahl's anti semtitic rants, all his own words, are breath taking in today's world, even more so perhaps than then. His review was about a book dealing with Israel's seige of Lebanon in 1981 which is a fore runner to what is happening now.

The play starts slowly, an over lunch discussion, Dahl is charming, the American visitor – an invented character is slightly out of her depth and happens to be Jewish – while Felicity tries to keep everything running smoothly. It is old fashioned play writing until it all explodes, Dahl launches into a full scale assault in the visitor, and we hear just what he had written in that review. Lithgow dominates the evening, all elegant charm and inherently impish, and one has to wait to find out whether he will do as his visitors want and give an interview explaining all = or not. The wait is worth it.

Cast

John Lithgow -Roald Dahl.

Elliot Levey – Tom Maschler.

Rachel Stirling – Felicity Crossland.

Tess Bonham Jones – Hallie.

Romola Garai – Jessie Stone.

Richard Hope – Wally Saunders.

Creatives

Director – Nicholas Hytner.

Designer – Bob Crolwey.

Lighting Designer – Anna Watson.

Sound Director – Alexandra Faye Braithwaite.