Becomes a Woman is one of Mint Theater Company’s most exciting discoveries ever: the world premiere of an unpublished and unproduced play by Betty Smith, author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Smith’s novel was a best-selling sensation when it was published in 1943, as well as the source for two movie versions and a musical.
In Becomes a Woman, Francie is nineteen, living with her family in Brooklyn and working at a five and dime store as a singer at the sheet music counter. Her co-workers describe her as “afraid of her family, afraid of the boss, afraid to make a date. Afraid that something might happen to her. But just you wait! She’s the kind that some smooth-tongued fellow will get hold of someday. When he’s through, she’ll be broken like that.” Which is exactly what happens to Francie, leaving her to pick up the pieces in a shocking display of independence and courage.
