Sometimes an actor gives such a commanding performance that he will always be that character. So it was with John Lithgow portraying Roald Dahl in the Olivier award- winning play Giant, recently transplanted to Broadway.

Lithgow portrays children’s author Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, BFG, James and The Giant Peach. Set in the living room of Dahl’s longtime family home in England undergoing renovations, the drama is based upon true events in Dahl’s life. Dahl wrote a book review and in it spewed anti-Semitic vitriol, condemning all Jews for bombings in Lebanon and referring to Jews as Nazis. In his debut work, playwright Mark Rosenblatt uses the actual words from Dahl’s review but fictionalizes a meeting between Dahl, Tom Maschler, his English publisher and the young woman sent to represent his American publisher.

Maschler (played by Elliot Levey who won the Olivier for Best Supporting Actor in this role) has come to Dahl to do damage control but Dahl is intransigent. Tom and Dahl’s fiancee Liccy (Rachael Stirling) want Dahl to remedy the situation by sitting for an interview, but the author resists.

A big man, Lithgow's Dahl can be playful and clever but has a cruel streak. Here is a man whose work enchanted and delighted children for decades. In his books, the adults are often cruel and mean, but the children are mostly sympathetic. Lithgow offers a sneer and at times becomes a bully with an evil twinkle which reminds us that Dahl is used to getting his way. Despite tales of his charity work and wartime heroics, the author is a narcissist and expects to be the center of attention, especially from those in his household or employ.

He insists he is right and shouldn’t be contrite and badgers his household staff to get their support. When he asks the young cook Hallie (Stella Everett) whether she would support Israel, she cleverly dodges the answer. So he keeps at her, refusing to let her pass. He grows more insistent, as they verbally joust. “Would you use Israeli avocados? he asks. “It depends. Do they know they are Israeli? she responds. This line provided the best laugh of the evening in a drama that gets more intense.

The situation really heats up with the late arrival of the American, Mrs Stone (Aya Cash.) He immediately determines that she is Jewish and once again, bullies and badgers her, knowing that to fight against him, she jeopardizes her job. She shows him that his review may have business repercussions but he is hostile and downright nasty and even menacing. Though instructed to appease Dahl, Stone tries to fight back but he’s bigger, more powerful, more influential. His overt anti-Semitism is too much for her and she reacts emotionally. The one time we see Dahl soften is when he realizes that Stone has an ill child.

Tom is also Jewish and was rescued during the war. Yet he doesn’t seem upset by Dahl’s anti-Semitism but instead is all business. His job is to not alienate Dahl’s readers but also to mollify his truculent author. When Dahl mocks him and cruelly refers to him as his "house Jew”, Tom pauses but barely reacts. However, there was an almost audible gasp from the audience.

Giant, the debut play by Mark Rosenblatt won Best Play as well as Best actor award for John Lithgow. The review and Dahl’s attitude are well-documented and the review is quoted verbatim but Rosenblatt created the scenario. The final scene in the play is an actual phone interview that Dahl gave and it is jarring and damning. It’s hard to reconcile the beloved children’s author and philanthropist with the raging anti-Semite portrayed on stage. Although the events in Giant are real, having occurred in the 1980s, they feel very real today. The number of anti-Semitic incidents is increasing globally and the play feels painfully too current.

Lithgow is often associated with lighter roles like TV’s “3rd Rock from the Sun” and “Harry and the Hendersons”. Here he is strong and powerful, scary and frightening. He is so believable that I wonder how many in that audience will ever regard him differently. Giant, skillfully directed by Nicholas Hytner, is powerful and disturbing and a fine drama.