by Linda Chin

‘School Girls; Or the African Mean Girls Play’ – Written by Jocelyn Bioh. Directed by Summer L. Williams. Scene design by Baron E. Pugh. Costume Design by Miranda Kau Giurleo. Lighting Design by Devorah Kengmana. Sound Design by Allyssa Jones. Presented by Speakeasy Stage Company at 527 Tremont St. Boston through May 26

With the Kavanaugh hearings and Operation Varsity Blues offering a steady stream of live theatrics about people’s willingness to steal, blackmail, and cover up the truth to get themselves (or their children) ahead,  a play about bad behavior at a boarding school might be dismissed as same old, same old. Set in the Aburi girls school in Ghana in 1986, SpeakEasy Stage’s School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play by Jocelyn Bioh offers New England theatergoers a much needed respite, a refreshingly original take on the lengths that teens (and the adults they grow up to become) are willing to go in their desperateness to win, or to just fit in.

Read more “SpeakEasy’s ‘School Girls’ Throw Shade”

Review by James Wilkinson

School Girls; Or the African Mean Girls Play is presented by Speakeasy Stage Company. Written by Jocelyn Bioh. Directed by Summer L. Williams. Scene design by Baron E. Pugh. Costume Design by Miranda Kau Giurleo. Lighting Design by Devorah Kengmana. Sound Design by Allyssa Jones.

The cafeteria at an African all-girls school becomes a battleground in Speakeasy Stage’s new production, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play. The play by Jocelyn Bioh focuses on a group of girls attending the school and it earns the second half of its title. It’s the mid-80s and the girls are giddy with anticipation for the arrival of beauty pageant scout who will be coming to potentially pick a competitor for the Miss Ghana pageant. The one who gets the crown will go on to compete against the winners from countries all over the world. Resident Queen Bee, Paulina (Ireon Roach) seems a shoe-in to chosen, but a wrench gets thrown into her plan with the arrival of new student, Ericka (Victoria Byrd). Due to Ericka’s parentage (white mother and black father), her complexion is much fairer (i.e. whiter) than the rest of the girls at the school. The pageant scout almost immediately latches on to Ericka, thinking that her lighter complexion will make it easier for her to compete on the world stage. When Paulina senses the potential for her best laid plans to go up in smoke, she strikes out in a way that has consequences for everyone in the school.

Read more “Speakeasy Takes us Back to School For a Much Needed Lesson”