Britt Berke Archives - TheaterScene.net

Britt Berke

Zack

March 14, 2026

While not the classic that "Hobson’s Choice" has become, Harold Brighouse’s follow-up play "Zack" proves to be a charming Edwardian comedy drama in the Mint Theater Company’s production which may be the first full New York production since 1916. Ironically, Zack has a great many things in common with "Hobson’s Choice" probably best known from the awarding-winning 1954 Sir David Lean film with Charles Laughton, John Mills, Brenda da Banzie and Prunella Scales. Britt Berke’s production glosses over the play’s deficiencies by keeping this middle-class comedy of manners going at quite a clip. While "Zack" shares many elements with "Hobson’s Choice," the two plays are very different, variations on a theme: a strong woman who saves the hero from his weaknesses, siblings who are against seeing the strength of an unambitious person, a parent who is both dominating and dogmatic, and a happy ending for the leading characters. However, both are based on the theme of the “worm turning.” [more]

Becomes a Woman

March 1, 2023

Originally entitled "Francie Nolan," the same as the title character of her later "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," but unrelated to that story except for sharing its Brooklyn setting, the play does incorporate anecdotes and scenes that would later appear in Smith’s novels. "Becomes a Woman" is uneven in tone, with a first act that is comedic, a second that is melodramatic, and a final act that is dramatic. On the one hand, the play is now a period piece depicting strict mores and values that have loosened up a great deal; on the other hand, much of its cavalier treatment of women is still unfortunately true today. While the first two acts resemble a great many films and plays of the 1930’s concerning fallen women, it is the third act which is progressive and ahead of its time, so much so that it may have scared off the all-male producing fraternity of those days. While the women are beautifully written, the male characters are undeveloped and not believable. As a result, the acting is the same with the best performances by the actresses and some unreal work by the men. [more]