What: SOOP Theatre presents the world premiere of Anthony P. Pennino's new play, as part of The Chain Theatre's 2026 The Factory Series. Pennino's play follows a family of second- and third-generation Italians, as teenager Gio and his older cousin Vin attempt to navigate the expectations of their fathers and their own inner demons. As Vin descends into addiction, Gio tries to keep him from drowning.
And? full review here.
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| Donovan Counts as Gio and Dante Palminteri as Vin. Photo by Grace Romanello. |
5/12/26: Giant
What: Mark Rosenblatt's play exploring celebrated children's author Roald Dahl and his antisemitism, in the wake of his incendiary book review of Tony Clifton's God Cried, in which equated Jewish people with Nazis.
And? I was pretty wary going into this show, and I don't think I would have gotten a ticket without having it vetted by more than one Jewish friend. I was worried the show would somehow try to let Dahl off the hook, on the strength of his writing and how much his books mean to people. I was also worried I'd be sitting within a hostile audience ready to applaud some of his rhetoric, since antisemitism has become more and more permissible in recent years. But the audience was very well-behaved, not stopping the dialogue to applaud certain arguments, as if we were watching a debate (I really hate how often that happens at shows these days -- it happened a lot when I saw The Ally and it was distracting and disheartening). And Giant does not let Dahl off the hook. A note in the program indicates that, while aspects of the play itself are invented, both the text of his review and every word of the phone call that ends the play are verbatim. There is no hiding from what he said, in print and on the record to a reporter. And, as a great relief to me, the repudiation of his outrageous statements, delivered by a young Jewish woman representing his publisher, is clear and firm--and is everything I wish I could say to the people spouting hate-speech at every Jewish person they see. Chillingly, every cruelty spouted by Dahl is one we're still hearing today, with new rigor. Forty years after the founding of Israel as a sovereign state, Dahl was calling for its dissolution; forty years later now, people are calling for that yet again. Everything old is new again, and I wish this play wasn't as timely as it is.
John Lithgow is perfectly cast as Dahl -- not just because he bears an uncanny resemblance to the man, but because he moves so effortless, almost imperceptibly, from the avuncular if tetchy beloved children's book author to a chilling manipulator, glaring out with cold reptilian loathing and spitting insults like he's throwing darts in a pub. We knew Lithgow had that ability to turn on a dime from his run as Trinity on Dexter, but it's a treat to see him do it live in front of us. A treat, and profoundly unnerving. Aya Cash, as the main focus of his venom, is a worthy adversary, masking her iron spine with the friendly and slightly apologetic veneer women in the corporate world often adopt to smooth any ruffled feathers.
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| Aya Cash as Jessie Stone and John Lithgow as Roald Dahl. Photo by Joan Marcus. |
