Rosie Orzulak

Blue Group

10/16/19

Review:​ School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play

Set in Ghana in 1986, ​School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play by Jocelyn Bioh

emphasizes the point that people live their lives around societal beauty constructs and standards.

Performed at Round House Theatre on October 12, 2019, the play follows the story of a group of

teenage girls in Ghana, at an all-girls boarding school. The five of them are all part of a friend

group, or “clique” revolving around Paulina, the most beautiful and popular girl. Along with

Paulina’s popularity, she is also very mean and condescending to her “friends”. The girls all

apply to be in the “Miss Ghana 1986” pageant, in hopes of eventually becoming “Miss

Universe”. Although, they all already anticipate that Paulina is going to win. Eventually, a new

student, Erika, comes to the school from the United States who is beautiful and light-skinned.

She ends up winning the Miss Ghana pageant, even after being exposed for not being fully

Ghanain. Throughout the play, the audience went through a rollercoaster of emotions, from

hysterically laughing to hysterically crying. All while exploring the heavy topics of bullying,

peer pressure, cliques, and colorism.

Nicole A. Watson, the director of the play, assisted in conveying the themes through a

very specific directing style. During the humorous scenes, the movement was more chaotic and

energetic but during the heartfelt, sad scenes, the movement was more still. The stillness in the

actors during the solemn scenes created a more successful effect on the audience, as it led to the

focus to be more on the actor’s emotions and the plot. However, the energetic movement and

staging during the funny scenes created a more interactive and happy effect over the audience.

The joy of the actors spread to the audience.

 The set for the show, designed by Paige Hathaway, was very simple. The set included

two picnic tables, one on stage left and one on stage right with a space in the middle. Throughout

the play, the picnic tables were utilized to represent different elements of the plot and setting. For

example, when Paulina was in charge of the group in the beginning, all of the girls were sitting

on the benches while Paulina was standing, to provide a sense of levels and status. In this case,

Paulina had a higher status. Later in the show, however, the roles were reversed and Paulina was

sitting while the girls were standing, to represent a change in status after Paulina got exposed.

The actors put on a very authentic performance throughout the entire show. For every

second, the audience was deeply indulged in the lives and stories of the characters. Their

emotions were real and left deeply effective emotions with the audience. The audience became

very connected to the characters due to the authenticity of the actors. Kayshana Johnson who

played Paulina, The “Queen Bee” role was very convincing throughout the entire play. Although

she played a character that was very easy to dislike from the audience’s perspective, as soon as

her deepest insecurities were revealed, she was turned into a character in whom the audience

could relate to. When Paulina lost the pageant, instead of feeling happy for Erika, the audience

felt bad for Paulina since they could tell from Johnson’s facial expressions and solemn body

language, she was hurting and longing for something unachievable due to her skin color.

Jade Jones who played Nana, one of the five main girls, was very convincing as her role

and left the audience attached to her and her story. Nana was “part” of the clique, but at the same

time, she wasn’t. Paulina didn’t want her in the clique due to her weight, because she thought to

have someone overweight with the girls would make them look bad. Throughout the play,

Paulina would make small insults toward Nana, about her weight. For example, in one of the

scenes, Nana was eating a bowl of oatmeal and Paulina replaced the oatmeal with the “smallest

apple”, all while saying the words “Are you determined to look like a cow?” As Paulina said

this, Jones’ face reflected pain, one that the audience could understand and sympathize with. As
a result of the pain, the audience’s hearts broke for Nana. Later in the show, Paulina kicked Nana

out of the clique because she was overweight and it was bad for their “image”.

This is when the “mean girls” aspect was very evident. As well as the theme because the

societal construct that people are supposed to be thin cost Nana her friend group. Another

example of the theme being showcased is when although Erika was exposed for being half white

and not truly being from Ghana, which breaks the pageant rules, she still won the pageant

because of society’s beauty ideals of light skin and hair. Due to these societal ideals, Paulina put

herself through pain by nearly burning her skin off with lightening lotion.

The lighting during the show, designed by Martha Mountain, appeared brighter, due to

the stage lights, during the more upbeat and happy scenes. For example, there was a scene in

which the girls had a “makeover party”. During this scene, the lights were bright and flashy,

conveying a happy and fun tone. During the sad scenes, such as when Paulina kicked Nana out

of the group, the lighting was more neutral, as to not distract from the scene.

The costumes, designed by Ivania Stack, accurately depicted the period and the setting.

Since the girls went to a boarding school, they were all wearing standard school uniforms, which

helped establish the setting at the beginning of the show. As well as, the 80’s themed pageant

dresses, makeup and hair helped establish the setting and time era.

Overall, the play, School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play,​ performed at Round

House Theatre was an outstanding production. The performance from the actors left the audience

crying laughing and fully engaged. As well as, the tech aspect supported the show, helping to

establish the main components of plot, theme, and setting.