Horrors of Dependency Weigh Heavily in New York Debut of ‘Blackout Songs’
Despite two sold-out runs in London, elements of Joe White’s award-nominated play are at times more irritating than cathartic.
By ELYSA GARDNER
||Culture
ELYSA GARDNER
New York, New York
Elysa Gardner is Contributor for the Sun.
Ms. Gardner has written about theater and music for The New York Times, The Village Voice, Town and Country, Time Out New York, Entertainment Weekly and other publications. She is a board member of the Drama Desk and has served on the jury for the Pulitzer Prize for drama twice, most recently as chair.
Latest Articles
Timely ‘Data’ Sheds Light on Dark Potential of AI
In its New York premiere, Matthew Libby’s one-act play addresses concerns prominent in today’s headlines.
By ELYSA GARDNER
||Culture
Erica Schmidt’s New Work, ‘The Disappear,’ Melds Acerbic Wit With Unabashed Goofiness
In directing her own play, Ms. Schmidt has enlisted a top-drawer ensemble of stage and screen veterans.
By ELYSA GARDNER
||Culture
Simon Stephens’ New Exercise in Mixed Reality Leaves Theatergoers With an Unsettled Feeling
‘An Ark’ raises questions about how we define emotional engagement and intimacy in the digital age, in art and in life.
By ELYSA GARDNER
||Culture
Tracy Letts’ 1996 ‘Bug’ Is More Timely Than Ever in Broadway Premiere
The two-act play becomes both funnier and more moving as it grows more horrifying.
By ELYSA GARDNER
||Culture
Broadway Revs Up for Busy Spring Season of Revivals, Newcomers
2026 starts off with a bang for theater fans.
By ELYSA GARDNER
||Culture
Endearing and Moving Performances From a Mostly Young Cast Lift ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock: The Musical’
The show could still use some work, but it has a compelling subject and decent bones, and both are well served in this production.
By ELYSA GARDNER
||Culture
Actor Matthew Broderick Pulls Out Some Old Tricks for New Production of ‘Tartuffe’
Under Sarah Benson’s rather hapless direction, Broderick leans into that wide-eyed, winking affect he has brought, with varying degrees of irony, to numerous other performances.
By ELYSA GARDNER
||Culture
The Best Theater of 2025 Came From Extraordinary Playwriting Rather Than Hollywood Stars
The Sun’s annual list of the most memorable work on stage proves that, as Shakespeare once wrote, ‘the play’s the thing.’
By ELYSA GARDNER
||Culture
Michelle Williams’s Suppressed Vitality Diminishes Brooklyn Revival of O’Neill’s ‘Anna Christie’
The actress, who projected intelligence and spunk in the 2019 miniseries ‘Fosse/Verdon,’ here invokes a woman whose inner light has been all but snuffed out.
By ELYSA GARDNER
||Culture
Jordan Harrison’s Prescient Broadway Debut Explores What It Means To Be Human
In ‘Marjorie Prime,’ director Anne Kauffman’s superb cast makes these questions resonate and sting.
By ELYSA GARDNER
||Culture
Irish Repertory Theatre Reimagines Capra’s ‘Wonderful Life’ as a 1940s Radio Broadcast
No matter how many times you’ve seen the movie, you’ll feel a warm glow when this angel finally earns his wings.
By ELYSA GARDNER
||Culture