Playwright Jocelyn Bioh Closes 'School Girls' Broadway Run This Week

Jocelyn Bioh is concluding the Broadway run of her play, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, this week. The production will continue its availability through livestream broadcasts on The League of Live Stream Theater website. While general admission requires a fee, the stream is free for high schoolers.

The play is set in 1986 at the Aburi Girls Boarding School in Ghana. It centers on Paulina, the school's social leader, and her group of friends. Paulina frequently mocks her peers for their appearance and behavior. The story escalates when a new student, Ericka, arrives from Ohio.

A recruiter for a beauty pageant is scheduled to visit the school. Paulina intends to win the Miss Ghana title. However, Ericka's arrival disrupts Paulina's plans. Ericka confronts Paulina's behavior during a school performance of Whitney Houston's song "Greatest Love of All."

Ericka is lighter-skinned than Paulina. This difference triggers a conflict between the school headmistress and the pageant director. They debate which student has the better chance of winning the Miss Global Universe pageant. The plot examines how societal standards of beauty influence the girls' lives.

Bioh stated that she did not consciously model the work on the 2004 film Mean Girls, despite the shared title reference. She chose the subtitle after reflecting on the play's themes with her friend and actress Danai Gurira. Gurira described the characters as feral teenage girls. Bioh agreed that the archetype is universal.

The play addresses colorism directly. Bioh, a dark-skinned woman, explained that she wanted to write a story that could shorten the journey of self-acceptance for other young girls. She noted that the message resonates with audiences from various backgrounds, suggesting colorism is a global issue.

Bioh questioned the origin of universal beauty standards. "I don't have a solution other than to, you know, create a play that people can feel entertained by or perhaps be impacted by, and hopefully shift their implicit bias as they move through the world," she said.

The cast includes Denée Benton as Paulina, Lucia Aremu as Ama, Nia Otchere-Sarfo as Gifty, Jordan Rice as Mercy, Erin Morton as Nana, and Jasmine Amy Rogers as Ericka. The ensemble is all-Black female and features a wide range of physical appearances. Bioh believes audiences see themselves in the characters regardless of their own backgrounds.

The production reached Broadway nearly a decade after its Off-Broadway premiere. Bioh received a message from actress Jenna Fischer, who saw the play recently. Fischer contacted Bioh again to say the show was still on her mind. Bioh cited this reaction as evidence that the play's themes continue to engage viewers after they leave the theater.

Bioh hopes the audience leaves with a sense of empathy for both the young girls and the adult women in the story. She asks viewers to adjust their ideas about beauty standards, even if only slightly. The Broadway run ends this week, with the livestream option providing a final viewing opportunity for those who cannot attend in person.