School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play

By Harry Forbes

I didn’t catch Jocelyn Bioh’s marvelous play School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play when it premiered at MCC in 2017, but Manhattan Theatre Club’s new production is a gem. Directed with confident flair by Whitney White, who previously collaborated with Bioh on MTC’s acclaimed Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, this Broadway premiere delivers a deliciously funny, ultimately touching portrait of adolescent cruelty, the tyranny of beauty standards, and the painful business of discovering who you are.

Set in 1986 at Aburi (pronounced Ehh-Bree) Girls Boarding School in central Ghana, the play revolves around Paulina, the self-appointed queen bee of the school, whose ambitions extend well beyond the classroom. When a recruiter arrives seeking candidates for the Miss Ghana pageant, Paulina assumes she, among all the girls, will be chosen. But the arrival of Ericka, a transfer student from America, upends these assumptions and turns the competition into something considerably more personal.

The cast is a beautifully integrated ensemble, with Denée Benton particularly striking as Paulina. Those accustomed to seeing Benton as the appealingly earnest budding journalist on HBO’s The Gilded Age will encounter quite another creature here: a ruthless schemer who amply earns the title of mean girl. Jasmine Amy Rogers, gearing up for her starring role in Lincoln Center Theater’s The Sound of Music, makes a worthy foil as Ericka.

Erin Morton is an audience favorite as Nana, the plus-size schoolgirl who bears the brunt of Paulina’s relentless bullying. Her resilience and vulnerability give the comedy some of its most affecting moments. Heather Alicia Simms lends compassionate authority to Headmistress Francis, while Patina Miller, as recruiter Eloise Amponsah, the former Miss Ghana of 1966, gets a recurring laugh from her character’s proud insistence on that long-ago triumph. It’s a running gag that never wears out its welcome. Lucia Aremu, Nia Otchere-Sarfo, and Jordan Rice round out the talented company.

White’s sharp direction mines Bioh’s play for all its considerable humor without losing sight of the pain beneath the barbs. What begins as a wickedly entertaining comedy of schoolgirl rivalries gradually opens into something more profoundt, touching on questions of identity, self-worth, and colorism. 

The production is handsomely realized. Teresa L. Williams’s atmospheric scenic design establishes the school’s distinctive world, while Qween Jean’s costumes are a particular delight, perfectly capturing the characters’ personalities and aspirations. Stacey Derosier’s lighting and Cody Spencer’s sound contribute to an accomplished technical ensemble.

At 75 minutes, without intermission, School Girls is a compact, expertly calibrated entertainment, one that leaves a more resonant impression than its initial premise might suggest. MTC’s production does full justice to a play that is as perceptiveand profound as it is funny.

Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47th Street; manhattantheatreclub.com; through November 15)

Photo by Matthew Murphy: (l.-r.) Denée Benton and Jasmine Amy Rogers

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