School Girls Revival Brings African Mean Girls to Broadway Stage
Broadway's newest mean girls have arrived, and they're not afraid to outshine Regina George. Jocelyn Bioh's School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play returns to the stage at the Samuel J Friedman Theatre on September 28, delivering a sharp commentary on colorism, class, and ambition through the lens of a 1986 Ghanaian boarding school pageant.
The play centers on Paulina (Denée Benton), the fierce leader of a clique at Aburi Girls Boarding School, who has her sights set on winning the Miss Ghana Pageant. Her plans unravel when Ericka (Jasmine Amy Rogers), a new student with lighter skin and American sensibilities, arrives and disrupts the established social order. What follows is a vibrant exploration of identity and worth that resonates far beyond the schoolyard.
What is School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play about?
Set in 1986 at Ghana's Aburi Girls Boarding School, the play follows a group of teenage girls navigating friendship, rivalry, and self-discovery as they compete for a shot at the Miss Ghana crown. The arrival of Ericka, a transfer student from the United States, forces the group to confront uncomfortable truths about colorism and societal expectations.
The play's stakes escalate dramatically when Eloise Amponsah (Patina Miller), a former Miss Ghana, arrives to scout talent. Her insistence on finding a candidate who can compete on the international stage exposes the girls to the harsh realities of a world that judges them by standards beyond their control.
Why did Jocelyn Bioh write this play?
Bioh drew inspiration from her own experiences as a boarder at Pennsylvania's Milton Hershey School, as well as her mother's time at Aburi Girls Boarding School in the 1980s. The play's origin story includes a memorable mishap: Bioh accidentally revealed her mother's mean girl past in a playwright's note that made it into a 2017 New York Times feature.
She was like, 'You told The New York Times I was mean?!' remembers Bioh. I was like, 'Oh my God.'
Both mother and daughter shared the unique experience of attending boarding school surrounded by peers who looked like them. Bioh always knew she wanted to write about that dynamic. She also found creative fuel in the drama that unfolds when teenage girls live without parental supervision. Your parents aren't around; it can become Lord of the Flies if you let it, she says.
How does director Whitney White approach the material?
White, who previously collaborated with Bioh on Jaja's African Hair Braiding, brings her own experiences with cliques and categorization to the production. As a classically trained singer and rock vocalist at Northwestern University, White learned early on what it felt like to not fit neatly into any group.
Northwestern was extremely cliquey at the time, says White. You could never be enough of anything to please any group. And I think that that's been something that's really defined my career. It's like, Okay, I guess I'm just going to have to make my own way.
This shared knack for defying categorization has become a hallmark of their collaboration. Bioh and White both bring multiple artistic talents to the table, from singing and composing to acting and directing. There's different facets of artistry that I think we're also bringing into our plays, says Bioh. We just have an eye on everything.
What makes this revival different from the original production?
The 2017 off-Broadway production faced skepticism from audiences who didn't immediately grasp the concept of African comedy. Bioh added the subtitle to provide context, a decision she sometimes second-guesses.
Sometimes I regret it and sometimes I don't, says Bioh. I only regret it when people come up to me and say, 'I love Mean Girls.' And I'm like, 'Me too, but I'm not Tina Fey.'
The revival arrives at a cultural moment when audiences respond differently to the play's sharper edges. Paulina's cruel jokes about her friend Nana's weight, which once drew laughter, now land differently. This time around, I can feel that the audience is really, really on Nana's side, says Bioh. It warms my little heart that we can see beauty in all people now that we maybe couldn't a decade ago.
Why do these mean girls matter now?
White sees the play's central conflict as far more significant than typical high school drama. The characters grapple with questions about how their skin color affects their value in the world, a theme that resonates across borders and generations.
Our big, bad mean girl is not just dealing with groupthink politics, says White. She's actually dealing with...Why does my color affect my value in the world? By the end of this play, this entire group of women -- their understanding of where they are in the world and where the world places them and values them -- is changed. And I think that that is why, maybe lovingly, we're saying she could eat Regina George for lunch. Because some of the things that she's dealing with are big, big, big obstacles. Not just, Do you like me? It's, Does the world see me?
Bioh remains confident that audiences will connect with Paulina, even when her behavior is hard to watch. It didn't matter whether the audience liked her or not, she says. They really understood her and her journey by the end of the play. That was the most important thing to me...Comedy is just a funny way of being serious, and I think we really land that.
School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play runs at the Samuel J Friedman Theatre starting September 28. For a playwright who once worried about being mistaken for Tina Fey, Bioh has crafted something entirely her own: a comedy that cuts deep, wrapped in the universal language of teenage ambition.