Giant is Mark Rosenblatt’s electrifying debut play. Set in the summer of 1983, it unfolds in the living room of Roald Dahl’s home, as he prepares The Witches for publication, just as a firestorm erupts over a controversial book review he has written.
In a single afternoon, Dahl—both charismatic and combustible—is confronted by his publishers, including a Jewish-American representative demanding an apology for language deemed antisemitic. What begins as a discussion about words quickly escalates into a tense battle over power, legacy, and responsibility.
Inspired by real events, Giant wrestles with the fragile line between conviction and prejudice, and asks how far empathy can go when faced with someone’s darkest flaws. The play paints a portrait of Dahl that is nuanced and unsettling: the beloved icon of children’s literature revealed in all his brilliance and contradictions.
First staged to critical acclaim at the Royal Court Theatre in 2024 (starring John Lithgow as Roald Dahl), it transferred to the West End in 2025, and won Best New Play at both the Olivier and Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards.
Giant is a daring, urgent drama about the cost of words, the weight of reputation, and what happens when heroes are shown to be human.