The Balusters

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Following in the footsteps of Joshua Spector’s Eureka Day and Tracy Letts’ The Minutes, also stories of local community service groups, David Lindsay-Abaire’s hilarious satire The Balusters is simply the best new play of the 2025-26 season. Set at a series of meetings of the Vernon Point Neighborhood Association in a landmarked enclave of an East Coast city, the pointed dialogue skewers liberals who really want to maintain the status quo as well as their white privilege. Hypocrisies abound as the nine members discuss local issues that stir up a great deal of heated debate as well as revealing their personal biases, while little change actually gets voted on. Director Kenny Leon’s terrific ensemble cast is led by Tony Award-winner Anika Noni Rose and Emmy Award-winner Richard Thomas, and the play also reunites the author with Marylouise Burke who has created roles in his Fuddy Meers, Wonder of the World and Kimberly Akimbo.

Kyra Marshall (played by Rose), her lawyer husband and her two daughters have moved into a renovated Victorian mansion at the corner of Palmer Road and Akron, along the Palmer Road esplanade. Having been on the co-op board of their Baltimore building where the Marshalls previously lived, Kyra has joined the Neighborhood Association and has offered to host it in her palatial and beautifully appointed residence. Formerly working in corporate finance, she is outspoken, articulate and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. She has recently hired Luz as her housekeeper and doesn’t yet know the story of why she left the employ of the President of the organization only recently.

She very quickly takes the measure of the other members who are a very diverse bunch: Melissa (Jeena Yi), a lesbian Asian American, Vice President of the Association; Penny (Burke), in her 70’s, Secretary of the Association, but who is not au courant with many current terms; Ruth (Margaret Colin), Treasurer of the Association, who often makes faux pas that are generally true but not said; Brooks (Carl Clemons-Hopkins), an African American travel writer who is married to a white man; Isaac (Ricardo Chavira), a Latino (who refuses to be called Latinx), a self-made man and  the local contractor that many of them use; Alan (Michael Esper), a well-intentioned white guy who is always called out for his ambiguous statements; Willow (Kayli Carter), a non-binary vegan and the youngest member of the group, a nepo baby who has a trust fund and inherited her seat on the Association from her father who was the best friend of the president; and last but not least Elliot (Thomas), the President of the Association, an affable realtor who grew up in this community, considers himself the gatekeeper of Vernon Point, and does not like to have his authority challenged.

The title refers to one of the topics of discussion: a Vernon Point resident is changing the balusters on her porch. As Elliot explains it, a baluster is the part of a railing that holds everything up, a metaphor for what the committee does. However, the resident has gone to Home Depot and gotten replacements that are not historically in keeping with their home or the character of the neighborhood. Do they report her to the Landmark Commission considering she is in a wheelchair? Other pressing issues include sending flowers to the family of the Imam at the local mosque but one of the members has a problem with his storekeeper son, as well as an issue of dog poop being left in bags in other peoples’ trash barrels.

However, the issue which stirs up the most controversy is Kyra’s suggestion of putting up a stop sign on her corner where there have been many near accidents. She is worried about both her own children and others. Elliot is against it as it will block the historically unobstructed view of the esplanade. However, it turns out that traffic only became bad on this corner since a recent traffic light was put up on Haskell Avenue three blocks away which ironically makes it easier to get to Elliot’s real estate office. As Kyra does more and more digging, she finds conflicts of interest galore. This eventually puts her squarely opposed to Elliot who wants things to stay the way they are – until one of the members is hit by a truck on that very corner.

The insults and gibes come thick and fast: this is Neil Simon for 2026. Also the biases and blind spots of the members are continually revealed until the final blood-letting when everyone is shown up for what they really are. Instrumental in this is Luz (Maria-Christina Oliveras), Kyra’s housekeeper who once worked for Elliot and has a secret which will explode the status quo sky high.

Under Leon’s smooth direction, the ensemble is perfect at their appointed roles. As Kyra Marshall, Rose is suave, sophisticated and hard-hitting, her character doing her due diligence to get to the truth of various issues. Thomas is amiable, gracious and cordial – except when he sees his long-held privilege being impinged on. It takes Kyra to point out to him that the people in the historic photos of the esplanade he so treasures are all white. Burke is hilarious as she misunderstands a good deal including mixing up two Melissas, one Asian and one Pakistani. Colin never fails to engender nervous laughter every time she puts her foot in her mouth. The conflict between Esper’s Alan making ambiguous remarks and Carter’s Willow over his possible biases heats up until someone calls Willow on her own hypocrisy. All the other actors are equally fine demonstrating their characters’ own blind spots to their views and self-interests. Never is there a dull moment nor a time without hilarity.

Derek McLane’s set is simply magnificent, a comfortable modern sitting room inside of a classic Victorian structure. The many costumes by Emilio Sosa for the play’s seven meetings differentiate the characters, and are particularly notable for Kyra’s chic and tasteful wardrobe. Dan Moses Schreier’s sound design includes ironic song lyrics between the scenes as well as his subtle original music. Thomas Schall is responsible for the startling fight direction that is the climax of the play. Who knew that community service associations could get so heated?

While David Lindsay-Abaire’s new play is brilliantly and wittily written, it is also topical in all the best ways. Not only are the issues discussed real ones, but they also show us where we are now in our social and political life, and the diversity of the characters only makes it more authentic. While Kenny Leon has done excellent work in the past many of those plays were niche dramas, while this play seems more mainstream than many of his other successes. The Balusters is the best play of the season and the funniest current night out.

The Balusters (extended through June 7, 2026)

Manhattan Theatre Club

Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, call 212-239-6200 or visit http://www.manhattantheatreclub.com

Running time: one hour and 55 minutes without an intermission