Francie Nolan was the central character in Betty Smith’s 1943 megahit semi-autobiographical novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. This young girl is bright, keenly observant and a dreamer. A decade earlier Ms. Smith penned a play Becomes A Woman while at the University of Michigan with a main character also named Francie Nolan. This work has never been published or produced until now.
This production is typical of discoveries made by the Mint Theatre Company. A forgotten work from the past. Seeking out female authors. An old three act structure. Warmly evocative sets and costumes. Largely memorable performances. And, most importantly, a revelatory glimpse back in time.
What was going on in Ms. Smith’s mind? This play focuses its theme on the burdens women face under the expectations of men. Bosses, husbands, fathers, brothers and suitors crowd the psyche. A coworker tells Francie “a girl has to really like a man before she gets intimate with him, but a man has to get really intimate with a girl before he likes her”. That viewpoint is hardly archaic which greatly enhances exploration within this time capsule.
Why was this play never produced despite winning a prestigious award at Michigan? Early 1930’s America was beginning to clamp down on transgressive themes. The Hollywood code was right around the corner. Premarital sex (for women) was verboten by religions, by parents and by societal pressures. How a young lady is expected to navigate her life within that world is the play’s milieu.
The story itself is not particularly revelatory as the expected joys and horrors of becoming a woman are examined. Really interesting, however, is burying this thoughtful study from view by the morality police. I’m not suggesting a direct intervention hurt this play’s chances but a patriarchal hierarchy coupled with religious zealotry certainly influenced what should be acceptable for public consumption. As our country clamps down once again on what it views as transgressive, Becomes A Woman seems a timely dose of historical perspective.
Emma Pfitzer Price admirably inhabited Francie’s emergence from naive dreamer to open eyed realist. Her parents were recognizable stereotypes but given depth by the excellence of Jeb Brown and Antoinette LaVecchia. Store coworkers Gina Daniels and a period perfect Pearl Rhein nicely assisted in setting the time and place. The “villains” were, as you would expect, slimy and familiar tropes.
Add Becomes A Woman to the Mint’s lengthy win column. I’ve added A Tree Grows in Brooklyn to my lengthy reading list.
Becomes A Woman is playing at New York City Center through March 18, 2023. Also highly recommended are previous productions which are streamed for free online. Currently there are two available: George Kelly’s Philip Goes Forth and Lillian Hellman’s Days to Come.