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Escola was excited to catch up on New York theater and see one performance in particular: Laurie Metcalf, currently starring as Linda Loman in a celebrated Death of a Salesman<\/em> revival. \u201cI saw her twice in Doll’s House Part Two,<\/em> and in Three Tall Women<\/em>,\u201d says Escola. \u201cI think she’s my favorite stage performer working right now.\u201d Which doesn\u2019t mean they aren\u2019t head over heels with Maya Rudolph, who currently stars in Escola\u2019s hit play Oh Mary<\/em>, and Meg Stalter, who will take over the role next on Broadway. \u201cI just keep thinking that, well, now no one will want to do it,\u201d said Escola, since each Mary has been so strong. \u201cEvery person that does it, I’m like, well now people don’t want to do it.\u201d Clearly, Escola is wrong.<\/p>\n Although the mood at the Moss was light and amiable, Giant<\/em>\u2019s subject matter is rather heavy, speaking directly toward ongoing strife in the Middle East\u2014even though it takes place more than 40 years ago. \u201cIt’s simply incredible how immediate the subject is, how urgent the subject is, and how eloquently the play deals with it, with all the different arguments, all of them energized by emotion,\u201d said Lithgow.<\/p>\n During his remarks, Vanity Fair<\/em> Global Editorial Director Guiducci highlighted this, calling Giant<\/em> a Rorschach test that \u201cexposes and challenges the preconceptions of everyone who sees it.\u201d \u201cThe play resists easy answers, pushing audiences to hold contradiction,\u201d he continued, before turning his attention to Lithgow\u2019s fearless performance. \u201cIn his long and decorated career, Lithgow has masterfully rendered everyone from King Lear to Lord Farquaad. I can\u2019t think of anyone else so totally equipped to play Rudy Giuliani, Roger Ailes, and Roald Dahl.\u201d<\/p>\n John Lithgow and Mark Guiducci<\/span>POUPAY JUTHARAT<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n Playing someone both beloved and despicable didn\u2019t scare Lithgow off: it intrigued him. \u201cIt\u2019s that duality of him that I find fascinating\u2014his humanity and inhumanity,\u201d said Lithgow. \u201cHopefully, the play gives people new ways of thinking about these issues. I mean, from my own mind, Roald Dahl, to the extent that he was a poor bigoted man, I feel so much of that comes out of the damage he has suffered himself.\u201d And with that, Lithgow was off to prep for that night\u2019s performance of Giant<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n