The exact same play can land differently on either side of the pond.

Three recent productions seem primed to test this theory, if they hop the Atlantic.

While Mark Rosenblatt’s Giant addresses the Brits as much as us Yanks, this new play’s sole American character speaks for a specific cohort of New York Jews who, relative to their British counterparts, react more apoplectically to Dahl’s criticisms of Israel and semites.

And guess how many of these New York Jews populate your average theater in the city?

Exactly. 

But British sensitivity should trump American sensitivity for a London calling of Jordan Tannahill’s Prince Faggot. While #AllNationalities are liable to be provoked by a play that imagines — and stages — a sadomasochistic future for a character based on a real-life 12-year-old, the provocation could cut deeper for the populace who one day will be the subjects of said 12-year-old, when protagonist Prince George becomes the king of England.

Tim Price’s Nye might be too focused on specifically British history to appeal to the United States; how many Americans even know what NHS stands for?

Even so, universal healthcare is such a hot-button topic, the story of its birth in the UK— by a proud socialist — could still rile.