THE BALUSTERS Previews

MTC website lists a running time of 100 minutes with no intermission

I just wanna know if Carl Clemons-Hopkins looks handsome in his costume and makes use of that soothing yet booming voice of his.

This was such an absolute highlight tonight! It is hilarious and the cast is all around fantastic. David Lindsay-Abaire is such an incredible writer and handles all of the characters immensely. I'm hoping maybe this can be Marylouise Burke's Tony!

I don't understand why this has a measly one-month run! Made worse by this seasons lack of "fun" plays. Or lack of much of anything for that matter.

Is it one or two acts?

I had a fun time with this and I think this will earn itself a nomination for Best Play, but it's definitely not breaking any new ground, and practically all of the plot points are quite predictable. There will probably be a lot of comparisons to plays like The Minutes and Eureka Day, as this has similar dynamics, but I think I enjoyed this one overall due to the less self-important nature it has.

What the play does well I think is less in the actual story/issues, but more in the interactions between characters and how they relate to each other. It was just fun watching them snipe at each other in a "wind them up and watch them go" sort of way, and the cast is quite game for all of it. It did feel like a few of them were still settling into their lines, especially in the early scenes, but overall this was a great ensemble. It nicely straddles the line between the characters feeling like archetypes while also managing to seem well-rounded and three dimensional. My main issue is some parts of the play feel a bit mechanical (like A has to happen so we can get to B so that C can happen), but it's still nice to just be a fly on the wall to some petty (and less petty) squabbles.

Also, the unit set is gorgeous, and I really liked some of the costumes (especially all the outfits Anika Noni Rose gets to wear), so I expect it'll pick up a few nominations. A fun fact from the talkback is that the floor plan of the set is modeled almost exactly off David Lindsay-Abaire's house (though redecorated), and also that he was inspired to write this play since his wife is on the neighborhood board (all of whom are coming to see the play later this month).

I'm not quite as positive on the show as earlier posters. It's fine. I laughed. The cast is universally good. But we've seen this play before. The Minutes, Thanksgiving Play, Eureka Day, and so many others off Broadway... I'm tiring of the hypocritical rich liberal takedown play. This is a perfectly fine version of that play. But I'm itching for something more.

It definitely reminded me of Eureka Day but that’s fine because I loved that play too. I had a great time at The Balusters and will definitely revisit it because I loved the cast and missed a few of the jokes because the dialogue can get so fast. I find David Lindsay-Abaire’s work rewarding.

It was great to see Anika Noni Rose back on stage. She and Richard Thomas do the heavy lifting admirably. Margaret Colin and Mary Louise Burke provide such stage presence and supply a lot of the zingers. Poor Michael Esper is so good as the schnook.

I loved the set but was not crazy about the amplified transitions which felt a bit repetitive after a while.

Did anyone else catch

How can it squeeze into the best revival category when it's a new play?...

Melissa25 wrote:

Did anyone else catch

From the script, it's...

Updated On: 4/12/26 at 11:43 AM

this flew by, because the script is full of great one-liners and the supporting cast is top notch. Lindsay-Abaire is so talented, so I had a good time, but this really could use a few more turns. the ending is particularly ridiculous and unnecessary. i liked the tirade against the bigots and the overly woke silliness, but ultimately this boils down to a bunch of hypocrites calling each other out on their grating hypocrisy, and all turning on the biggest jerk of the bunch.

richard thomas is such a likeable reasonable everyman--a stage treasure--but he seems maybe miscast here, because i felt like anika noni rose was sanctimoniously bullying him--until the plot reveals who he really is, which is hard to square with the character thomas puts forward. until that point. i found both the leads frustrating--and everytime I thought I could get behind Rose, the script pulled the rug out from under me again. Lindsay Abaire gives her a bit of comeuppance at the very end but it doesnt land.

so all the caricatures get taken down a notch in hilarious fashion except the lead, who is always texting her off stage daughters, and giving long speeches to the audience, not to the other characters. Both Thomas and Rose do this so this might be Kenny Leon's work, but i found it irritating and was in stark contrast to the way Becky Shaw flowed so much more naturally.

thankfully, we have so many gems to enjoy around the two main characters. Michael Esper gets his moment, Carl Clemons Hopkins is a treat, Mary Louise Burke is perfection in a role written for her I must assume, and Margaret Colin gets zinger after zinger (giving Linda Emond a bit of a run for her older cranky white lady money but not really). the ensemble lifts a predictable and preachy piece from OK to better than OK.

the set was beautiful and well used, and the costumes (something i never notice) were impressive. i agree with the comment above that the mics are SO turned up- I think this was to the benefit of some voices but overall was a bit odd. i do think the actors are still getting their footing and there were a few moments where people spoke over each other- at one point an outburst from Burke caused the cast to break up a bit. i imagine this will only gel better with time, and its possible that the two leads will get more comfortable and less performative, which will make it all go down easier.

Updated On: 4/12/26 at 09:38 PM

This was pretty good but for a play about people saying and doing tone deaf things, utilizing a VERY long segment of a Kanye West song was very off putting and distracting all things considered right now, and it is the second Kenny Leon production to use one in recent seasons (Othello had one as part of the walkout music)

with so many choices this was a real eyebrow raiser