Giant

‘Shocking, challenging, spectacularly good… Head-on, unflinchingly, Giant confronts the vile antisemitism of one of the most beloved children’s authors of all time, while sweeping along in its ferocious cross-currents of dialogue all the pitched battles of society today… what is so good about Rosenblatt’s play is that it’s so tightly focused, and so colossally universal’

‘Astonishingly good’

‘Enthralling… we’ll be lucky to encounter a more thought-provoking play in the next decade. Mark Rosenblatt’s debut drama really is that good… I have run out of superlatives’

‘Brilliant… as dark and sharp-toothed as one of Dahl’s fictive monsters… sophisticated writing that speaks directly to our times… shows a necessary bravery. This is exactly what theatre is for’

‘Incendiary… a play that says things that many people may be thinking, but are too afraid to air in public. It’s not simply about Dahl, it’s about all of us’

‘Startling… one heck of a debut play – well-made and sturdy, exquisitely tense, and scrupulously fair’

‘There can’t be a more timely play on the London stage right now. Or better written’

‘Extraordinary… finely written… rattlesnake-shocking… Giant is not fancy in form but its movement is intricate. One detailed argument gives rise to another, and the play is better for not resolving them all… it rings chillingly true’

‘An unslayable hit… hugely impressive… a complex plethora of thought-provoking little details… a summer smash… this is the play to see’

‘Fiery and incisive… Rosenblatt is admirably unafraid to plunge into fierce arguments… he tackles this thorny subject with the right mix of journalistic balance, insight and rightful condemnation’

‘Simmering and tense… a memorable portrait of Dahl… Rosenblatt brilliantly captures his strident, baroquely florid voice’

‘Powerful… psychologically deft… Rosenblatt weaves in insight after insight. He hints at the way adolescent misogyny might have shaped Dahl’s nastiness, and the way that our deference — to the elderly, to the famous, even to the loved — can accelerate their radicalization’

‘Riveting… devastating… does what good theatre can do better than any other setting, holding and exploring complex, contradictory views without oversimplification’

‘Mark Rosenblatt’s Giant hits the current historical moment like a targeted strike - it couldn’t be timelier… the play’s moral complexity marks it as more than a portrait of the artist as a difficult man. It’s a provocative study in the ongoing challenge of asking giants to watch their step’

‘Startling, feverish and prescient’

‘Theatrical magic… blisteringly good… the real star here is Mark Rosenblatt’s writing. So complex and rich in tone, it beautifully taps into a difficult subject and instils it with comedy in a way that never minimises the pain… exceptional… just a phenomenal piece of theatre’

‘Blistering… a blast of a debut play’

Mark Rosenblatt is a writer and director for stage and screen.

He has worked as a freelance theatre director across the UK and internationally, directing productions at Shakespeare’s Globe, the National Theatre, Sheffield Theatres, Northampton Theatres, Leeds Playhouse, the Edinburgh Festival, HighTide Festival Theatre, the Young Vic, in the West End, off-Broadway, and Tokyo, among others.

He was full-time Associate Director at Leeds Playhouse from 2013-2016 and an Associate Artist there until 2020, directing nine mainhouse productions. Prior to that, he was the Associate at the National Theatre Studio from 2011 to 2013, where he ran the Directors Department and developed new work.

As a playwright, his work includes Giant (Royal Court Theatre, London, 2024; West End, 2025), which won Best New Play at the 2025 Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards. At the same awards, Mark Rosenblatt was named Most Promising Playwright. He also won Best Creative West End Debut at The Stage Debut Awards in 2025.

Author photo: Luke Bryant

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