Samuel J Friedman Theatre, New York
Rabbit Hole writer David Lindsay-Abaire takes on a list of modern American conflicts in a fun, if ultimately underdeveloped, comedy drama
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laywright David Lindsay-Abaire has an impressively eclectic bibliography that includes the Pulitzer prize-winning play Rabbit Hole, the Tony-winning musical Kimberly Akimbo, and providing book and lyrics for a singing and dancing version of Shrek. His new comedy The Balusters doesn’t exactly bring all of his talents together in a single sum-up work, but it does require a versatility of imagination in the pulling together the nine-member Vernon Point Neighborhood Association. Not quite as officious as an HOA but not quite as benevolent as a friendly get-together, the group assembles to discuss various issues affecting the safety, sanctity and aesthetic qualities of a neighborhood in an unnamed US area. (Based on a few stray references, somewhere around suburban DC seems likely.) They’re remarkably polite, even friendly, considering how much some of them seem to not-so-secretly dislike one another. It’s sometimes hard to tell whether they know each other too well for passive-aggressive behavior, or if Lindsay-Abaire doesn’t have quite the right ear for it.
