Roald Dahl: A Faulty Attempt to Interrogate Him on Stage

Roald Dahl has taken London by storm. At the same time that a musical based on his children’s book Matilda runs at the Cambridge Theatre in Covent Garden, Mark Rosenblatt’s Giant, a semi-factual account of Dahl in his later years, captivates audiences in sold-out showings at the Royal Court Theatre on Sloane Square.

If the reception that Giant has met with is any indication, many people today would like to see the infamous author and provocateur answer a few pointed questions. A tiny cast and spartan, one-room setting are all that the play needs for its characters to engage in the retrospective interrogation to which theatergoers in 2024 wish they themselves could subject the often outrageous Dahl, who died in 1990. Unable to pose the questions to him directly, viewers get the next best thing.

About the Author

Michael Washburn

Michael Washburn is a New York-based novelist and short story writer. His most recent book is Infinite Desert.

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Roald Dahl has taken London by storm. At the same time that a musical based on his children’s book Matilda runs at the Cambridge Theatre in Covent Garden, Mark Rosenblatt’s Giant, a semi-factual account of Dahl in his later years, captivates audiences in sold-out showings at the Royal Court Theatre on Sloane Square.

If the reception that Giant has met with is any indication, many people today would like to see the infamous author and provocateur answer a few pointed questions. A tiny cast and spartan, one-room setting are all that the play needs for its characters to engage in the retrospective interrogation to which theatergoers in 2024 wish they themselves could subject the often outrageous Dahl, who died in 1990. Unable to pose the questions to him directly, viewers get the next best thing.