Though The Balcony was Genet's first commercially successful play, the playwright was intensely critical of its first production in London in 1957. Genet believed it was not true to his text; that it was too ordinary and small, whereas his text called for big, theatrical, and bawdy. Martin Esslin, in his book The Theatre of the Absurd, called it "a brave attempt in a small theatre and with modest means." Genet was never happy with way the play was produced.

When The Balcony debuted in New York City in March 1960, critics were mixed in their reactions. While many believed that they were viewing a play with deep meaning and implications, they were somewhat confused by its complexities. As Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times wrote, "It would take a committee of alienists to define all the abnormalities contained in this witches' cauldron, and a committee of...