In this excerpt, David I. Grossvogel relates "The Balcony" to "a house of illusions."

The balcony [in Genet's dramas] is a stage upon Genet's stage, a place of sumptuousness, triumph, and make-believe.

The Balcony is a conscious stage from the first.... But this stage is also ... "the most artful, yet the most decent house of illusions." A house of illusions is the traditional French name for a brothel, a place for the creation and enjoyment of intimate fancies. ... No problem, says Genet, should be resolved in the imaginary realm, especially since the dramatic solution is an indistinct part of the closed social structure. It is rather the play that should bring its reality to the spectator. And so Genet has placed a mirror on the right-hand wall of his set which reflects an unmade bed that would be, if this stage room had a normal extension, in...