Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Flawed, entitled men exposed in harsh light: Nathan Lane in DEATH OF A SALESMAN, John Lithgow in GIANT

• By drediman
• April 12, 2026
• No Comments

This spring, Broadway has brought us two compelling portraits of flawed and entitled white men, exposing them in harsh and unforgiving light. These would be Willy Loman, as played by Nathan Lane, in the Arthur Miller warhorse Death of a Salesman, and author Roald Dahl, portrayed by John Lithgow, in the Broadway transfer of Mark Rosenblatt’s new play Giant. As always, read on for my musings.

DEATH OF A SALESMAN
Winter Garden Theatre
Through August 9

First up is Nathan Lane headlining veteran director Joe Mantello’s powerful new production of Death of a Salesman (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) at the Winter Garden Theatre. Believe it or not, this is the fourth Broadway revival of the sturdy Arthur Miller warhorse that I’ve had the privilege of being in the audience of (the other Willy Loman’s I’ve seen were Brian Dennehy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Wendell Pierce). Given that the last revival with Wendell Pierce was mounted just four years ago, is it really already time for yet another Salesman to grace the boards of the Great White Way? The short answer to that would be an emphatic yes, particularly as muscularly staged by Mantello as if under a probing microscope. Set in what seems to be an abandoned car garage shrouded in shadows (complete with a full-sized 1964 Chevy) — the striking set design is by Chloe Lamford, which is lit by Jack Knowles — there’s a desolation that pervades the production, as if to suggest the utter fraudulence of the American Dream. The moment he steps onto the stage, it’s clear that this Willy Loman is already far gone, his touch with reality practically non-existent as the play’s familiar proceedings begin unspooling. Only under this thick mantle of delusion can the character’s toxicity can begin to be tolerable. It also helps that Lane’s inherent charisma shines through in a titanic and shattering performance that will likely be a defining point in his already illustrious career. Following in the footsteps of the distinguished trifecta of Elizabeth Franz, Linda Emond, and Sharon D. Clark, Laurie Metcalf just may score her second Tony nomination of the season for her guttural performance as Linda Loman (the first being for her equally visceral performance in Samuel D. Hunter’s Little Bear Ridge Road in the fall). As the troubled golden child Biff, Christopher Abbott paints a counterintuitive portrait of a broken small man rather than a flawed Adonis. Also worth mentioning are Ben Ahlers’ magnetic and uncommonly central Happy, as well as Jonathan Cake’s impossibly mythic portrayal Willy’s brother Ben — a performance that fits beautifully into Mantello’s vision of Miller’s play.

GIANT
Music Box Theatre
Through June 28

Over at the Music Box Theatre, John Lithgow is painting a complicated portrait of children’s writer Roald Dahl in the Broadway transfer of the Olivier-winning Best Play Giant (RECOMMENDED) by Mark Rosenblatt. The play has received tremendous word of mouth from across the pond, especially for Lithgow’s performance. By and large, the accolades are on point, although a part of me was a tad underwhelmed by the static nature of the play — in both structure and dialogue, Rosenblatt’s work is a decidedly old fashioned piece of playwriting. Taking place in 1983 in Dahl’s home in England, the drama hones in on the controversy and fallout caused by his public anti-Israel and antisemitic remarks around Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, particularly as it relates to his public persona as the author of such beloved and iconic children’s books as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, and James and the Giant Peach (the play is set during the lead up to the publishing of the writer’s latest literary creation The Witches). Unlike the overall magnificence and gravitas of Mantello’s aforementioned production of Death of Salesman, the elegant naturalism of director Nicholas Hytner’s staging seems necessarily slight in comparison. But it is Lithgow’s layered and methodically mercurial performance — which won the American actor the coveted Olivier Award — that elevates the production to one of the must-see shows of the season. Both petulant and repellant, his Dahl is essentially an overgrown child with outsized influence on the world around him. It’s a scary combination of traits that unfortunately feels all too familiar. The other performances are more than competent, but they don’t quite reach the heights of Lithgow’s artistry. Giant is most fascinating as a clear-eyed and unadorned case study in outright racism and bigotry. Indeed, much of the play’s potency arises from its current political relevancy. A such, the debate-driven battle of wills that occur register with urgency, likely sparking conversations over whether it’s possible to separate the artist from their art.