The Balusters
(Photo: Jeremy Daniel)
By Fern Siegel (posted 5/14/26)
Anyone who has ever attended a co-op or condo meeting will immediately recognize the humor and liberal hypocrisy of the new Broadway comedy The Balusters.
Set in a wealthy suburb, the Vernon Point Neighborhood Association debates everything from porch railings to trash-can protocol. But when Kyra (Anika Noni Rose) joins, the battles escalate. Surprisingly, all she proposes is a stop sign on a trafficked intersection to ensure safety. But the no-brainer request incites the preservationist impulses of realtor Elliott (Richard Thomas), longtime association president, determined to protect the integrity of its Victorian architecture at all cost.
Between confronting arcane house rules and city ordinances, the passions of the nine neighbors shift into high gear. It’s not just the stop sign. It’s all the challenges to their protected way of life, everything from the rise in thefts, attributed to teens from the projects, to more personal situations, revealing the prejudices and/or contradictions that define humanity.
But what makes David Lindsay-Abaire’s play, now at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater, so smart and clever, is that he doesn’t pull his punches.
He lacerates the pretensions of identity politics, as the neighborhood is diversely represented. The Far Left vegan Willow (Kayli Carter), who thought polices Alan, an exasperated white man (Michael Esper) with her endless, censorial woke language, is taken to task by Hispanic Isaac (Ricardo Chavira) and Brooks, a gay black man (Carl Clemons-Hopkins).
None want to be lectured on appropriate behavior from someone who pretends to support sensitivity, but engages in intolerance and judgment at every turn. And, we eventually learn, has an easy life thanks to a trust fund.
What becomes quickly apparent is that the ensemble is first-rate.
They include a refreshingly shoot-from-the-hip Margaret Colin, who loves to taunt Willow with her rabbit fur coat, and a wonderful Marylouise Burke, noted for her high-pitched delivery, who mistakes Melissa (Jeena Yi) a Korean American lesbian, for a married Pakistani woman with the same name.
When secrets are revealed, including one from Kyra’s housekeeper Luz (Maria-Christina Oliveras), it underscores the cunning power plays that those accustomed to control maintain. But it also notes how sneaky the personal agendas of the seemingly helpful can be.
As directed by Kenny Leon, the group’s clashes deliver 110 minutes of barbed, scathing and wildly entertaining commentary. Derek McLane’s perfectly appointed set, Kyra’s living room, illustrates the neighborhood’s economic strata as much as the delicious buffet table that accompanies the meetings.
The Balusters slams self-interest, while understanding mixed motivations. In the end, the one thing the neighbors share is class solidarity, the trump card of the privileged. Happily, Lindsay-Abaire (Kimberly Akimbo) makes it terrific fun.