Grayson Davis

10/23/19
Ms. Jeral
Red Group

On October fifth, I attended a showing of ​School Girls; or The African Mean Girls Play

written by Jocelyn Bioh, at the Roundhouse Theatre in Bethesda. The play follows the story of

eight women, at a boarding school in Ghana in 1986. Six of these women are students attending

the school. One of the others is the headmistress and the other, a recruiter for the Miss Ghana

beauty pageant. All six of the girls entered into the competition to be recruited leading to tension

between the characters. The setting, the year, and the characters reveal the theme which is beauty

standards negatively affect everyone.

One of the main ways the theme was shown was through colorism and the ways it

affected Paulina and Ericka, two of the main characters. Paulina and Ericka both entered in the

competition to be recruited for Miss Ghana and colorism affects them both in very different

ways. The director, Nicole A. Watson, directed the scenes that grapple with the effects of

colorism wonderfully with the scenes feeling honest and agonizing. Kashayna Johnson, who

played Paulina, gave one of the strongest performances in the show and it was showed her talent

exceptionally well in the raw moments when colorism affected Paulina. Claire Saunders, who

plays Ericka, is also plays her role excellently. Saunders and Johnson both grab the audience’s

attention and keep them engaged throughout the entire show.

Another way colorism was shown to affect the characters is through the costume design.

Though this is more subtle it is noticeable and was used in a very clever way. The recruiter

Eloise Amponsah (played by Shirine Babb ) who knows that in the world of beauty pageants,
lighter skin is preferred and the western style of beauty is preferred wears a women’s suit. This is

outfit choice is a lot more obvious when we compare it to what Headmistress Francis wears. It is

in the subtlety of certain actions the characters do that show the effects of beauty standards on

the characters.

While the acting and the costume design in ​School Girls​ was exceptional, the lighting and

stage movement left much to be desired. The lighting was simple and only changed between

scenes. Even this was simple and only changed from a white-yellow to a blue and then

immediately back to the white-yellow. The movement of the characters was a lot of the same. It

was fine but nothing exceptional. Most of the play, characters seemed to be standing or sitting on

one side of the stage. With the exception of a few scenes, the movement was slow and boring.

In its entirety, ​School Girls​ is an enjoyable play with only a few things it needs to fix. It

does an amazing job of shining a light on colorism and it’s effects on women of color. Through

this perspective, it causes the audience to stop and think about how colorism is still a problem 30

years after the show takes place. ​School Girls ​is focused on colorism but it’s stilll able to stay

light and is great to watch. Nicole A. Watson was able to do justice to Jocelyn Bioh’s script and

the results were excellent.