‘The Balusters’ review: A hilarious clash of wackos on Broadway

It’s the Battle of the Affluent! 

Or, at any rate, the latest Battle of the Affluent.

David Lindsay-Abaire’s bracingly funny new HOA play “The Balusters,” which opened Tuesday at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, is without a doubt kissing cousins with Tracy Letts’ similar “The Minutes” and Jonathan Spector’s “Eureka Day.” 

After all, it takes a special type of person to want to run for the board of a Montessori school, a small-town city council or a group that makes decisions for a pricey neighborhood. Those contentious rooms are populated with strong-willed loudmouths who either demand change or sturdily maintain the status quo. Typically, they’re united in their hypocrisy.

The “meeting play” is nothing new — hello, “12 Angry Men”  — but it’s the preferred format of the day for confronting changing times and incorporating headlines without hitting audiences over the head with them. Wokeness, privilege and generational differences reliably pop up, and seemingly tiny initiatives mask deeply held prejudices. Every scene is a fight. 

All of those hot buttons are pressed with gusto in Lindsay-Abaire’s comedy, set at an escalating series of homeowners association gatherings in a grand living room of a historic, not-quite-gated community. Compared with the shows by Letts and Spector, “The Balusters” has by far the least to say. It’s certainly not a provocative talker. There’s nothing left to discuss at dinner afterwards, since the play settles its arguments all by itself by curtain.

But what makes “The Balusters” such tremendous fun are the brilliantly cast debaters. Lindsay-Abaire’s collection of oddballs is a jury duty lineup of eccentric personalities that, the more they spar, the louder we laugh.

“You’re sure you’re ready for these people?,” asks association VP Melissa (Jeena Yi) to new resident and host Kyra (Anika Noni Rose). 

She doesn’t know the half of it.

Oldest member Penny arrives early to stake her claim on her preferred seat that’s closest to the prez, Elliott (Richard Thomas). The incomparable Marylouise Burke has a kindly voice that says cookies are in the oven and an attitude that suggests there’s a shiv in her pocket. Crafty Penny knows Ruth, a lady who lunches, might screw her over and steal her chair.

And she’s probably right. Tart-tongued Ruth, played as battery acid in the shape of a woman by the addictive Margaret Colin, rolls in wearing a rabbit fur coat to specifically to rile up younger Willow (Kayli Carter), a self-righteous PETA member.

“There are always plenty of rabbits,” Ruth dryly remarks. “That’s kinda their thing.”

The committee is rounded out by anxious Alan (Michael Esper), right-leaning contractor Ricardo (Isaac Rosario) and gay travel writer Brooks (Carl Clemons-Hopkins). They start out with some restraint, and gradually the gloves come off.

Always hovering is Kyra’s genial housekeeper Luz (Maria-Christina Oliveras), who knows secrets about all of them and conceals some of her own.

The members are here, so the outwardly innocuous issue Kyra proposes to the room — and especially immobile, grandfatherly Elliott — is putting up a stop sign at the dangerous intersection outside her house. Car crashes are becoming a common occurrence. A no-brainer, right?

Hardly. That will block the pristine and unobstructed view of the esplanade, Elliott counters. The pair’s first head-to-head commences a war that could destroy the group that’s ostensibly meant to improve and stand up for Vernon’s Point.

Line by line and moment by moment, “The Balusters” is an engrossing and enjoyable watch, fueled by Lindsay-Abaire’s impolite humor and the cast’s sparky connectivity and willing embrace of the bonkers. Director Kenny Leon precisely paces the comedy, and gets a string of howls for his efforts.

When more broadly considered, as the writer turns his attention to serious issues rather than quick jabs at the culture wars, the play falters some. Because of all the giggles, I almost forgot the show was building to anything of substance. 

Well, it tries to, and that is “The Balusters” at its least satisfying. The conclusions are obvious because they’ve been arrived at many, many times before, and the two main opponents are pancake flat. One is good, one is bad, bingo bango. I got the sense that Lindsay-Abaire, who has no fear with his punchlines, was reluctant to give Kyra any flaws at all. 

And the climax, as written and staged, is overcooked almost to the point of being inedible. 

But with its witty and gutsy jokes and stellar comedic performances from Burke and Colin, “The Balusters” is a Broadway meeting at which you’ll want to yell, “here!”