‘School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play’

 

SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY
Written by Jocelyn Bioh
Directed by Whitney White
Through November 15, 2026
Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47^th Street
manhattantheatreclub.com/

Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play takes place at an elite girls’ boarding school in Ghana in 1986. However, these teenagers aren’t that different from girls growing up in the USA.

They worry about popularity. They also gossip about boys, clothes and each other. At the same time, they compete for attention and worry about how they look. Above all, they want to belong, even when belonging means putting up with someone who doesn’t treat them very well.

That sense of familiarity is one of the great pleasures of Ms. Bioh’s wickedly funny play, now making its Broadway debut at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. The play had its world premiere Off-Broadway in 2017, when MCC Theater produced it at the Lucille Lortel Theatre under the direction of Rebecca Taichman. Under Whitney White’s skillful direction, the comedy eventually gives way to something more troubling. Ms. Bioh examines body image, colorism and the standards young women learn to impose on themselves and each other.

The ‘African Mean Girls’

At Aburi Girls Boarding School, Paulina Sarpong (Denée Benton) is the undisputed “popular” leader of a close-knit group of students. Beautiful, confident and often cruel, Paulina knows exactly how to manipulate her friends to maintain control.

Her biggest ambition is to represent Ghana in the Miss Ghana pageant and potentially advance to the Miss Global Universe competition.

However, trouble ensues when Ericka Boafo (Jasmine Amy Rogers) arrives.

Ericka has recently moved to Ghana from Ohio, and her American background immediately fascinates the other girls. Their ideas about life in the United States provide some of the play’s funniest moments. Paulina has spent years impressing her friends with stories about America. Ericka, however, actually knows what life there is like.

In addition, Ericka’s arrival threatens Paulina’s position within the group. The stakes grow higher when former Miss Ghana Eloise Amponsah (Patina Miller) arrives at the school to select a contestant for the upcoming pageant.

Ericka is talented, attractive and biracial, with a naturally lighter complexion. Soon, it becomes clear that the pageant’s definition of the ideal Ghanaian beauty may favor Ericka for reasons that have little to do with talent.

Teenage girls & the need to belong

Despite its Ghanaian setting, much of School Girls feels remarkably universal. In fact, the dynamics within Paulina’s group could exist in almost any American high school.

Mercy (Jordan Rice) and Gifty (Nia Otchere-Sarfo) frequently follow Paulina’s lead. Ama (Lucia Aremu), Paulina’s closest friend, gradually becomes less willing to accept her behavior. Meanwhile, plus-sized Nana (Erin Morton) suffers some of Paulina’s cruelest comments, particularly about her weight. Still, she continues to want Paulina’s approval.

Ms. Bioh understands something important about teenagers. The desire to belong can sometimes be stronger than the willingness to challenge someone who behaves badly. Going along with the group can seem easier than risking becoming its next target.

Beauty, body image & the politics of skin tone

At first, the play’s concerns about appearance seem like familiar teenage insecurities. Paulina monitors Nana’s eating and repeatedly attacks her weight. The girls also compare clothes, hair and beauty products.

However, Ericka’s arrival exposes something much more troubling. The other girls are fascinated by her lighter skin. Their casual conversations about skin-bleaching products reveal how deeply they have absorbed the subjective idea that lighter skin is more desirable. In turn, the play exposes a kind of pigmentocracy, a hierarchy in which lighter skin carries greater social value.

Eloise makes the implications even clearer when she explains what kind of contestant the international pageant wants. Suddenly, the girls’ competition over beauty carries much greater weight.

Ms. Bioh never lets Paulina off the hook for the way she treats her friends. At the same time, she allows us to understand that this seemingly confident teenager struggles with many of the same insecurities she exploits in others.

A formidable ensemble

The production benefits enormously from an excellent ensemble cast. Each actress creates a distinctive character. Just as important, they convince us that these girls have shared a history long before we meet them.

Denée Benton, of HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” gives a terrific performance as Paulina. She can be hilariously self-assured one moment and startlingly vicious the next. Yet Ms. Benton gradually exposes the insecurity beneath Paulina’s confidence. As a result, she makes it possible to dislike what Paulina does without reducing her to a one-dimensional bully.

Jasmine Amy Rogers, Tony-nominated for Boop! The Musical, brings warmth, confidence and considerable charisma to Ericka. Ms. Rogers also displays her formidable singing voice during the pageant audition, one of the evening’s funniest sequences.

Patina Miller, a Tony winner for the 2013 Pippin revival, is glamorous, commanding and very funny as Eloise. As the character’s priorities become clearer, Ms. Miller reveals the troubling attitudes beneath her polished exterior.

Heather Alicia Simms brings warmth, humor and authority to Headmistress Francis. Her scenes with Ms. Miller are particularly enjoyable as the history between the two former classmates emerges.

Erin Morton is especially poignant as the misfit Nana. Ms. Morton captures the vulnerability of a teenager who desperately wants to remain part of the group even when being part of it hurts. Eventually, Nana finds the courage to stand up for herself, creating one of the production’s most satisfying character developments.

Lucia Aremu makes a strong impression as Ama, whose loyalty to Paulina begins to reach its limits. Meanwhile, Jordan Rice and Nia Otchere-Sarfo generate some of the production’s biggest laughs as Mercy and Gifty. Their comic chemistry adds enormously to the ensemble.

There isn’t a weak performance in the cast.

Comedy with a serious edge

Director Whitney White keeps the production moving at an energetic pace while maintaining its humor as Ms. Bioh’s more serious themes emerge.

In particular, the pageant audition is a comic highlight. The students perform Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All” with wildly different degrees of confidence and ability. It’s one of the show’s best moments.

Teresa L. Williams’ scenic design effectively establishes the boarding school environment. Meanwhile, Qween Jean’s colorful costumes evoke the 1980s and help establish the girls’ individual personalities.

More than a ‘Mean Girls’ comedy

Ultimately, Ms. Bioh uses familiar adolescent experiences to explore something considerably more painful. What happens when young women learn that their value depends on meeting standards of beauty that may be impossible, and even damaging, to achieve?

The result is a play that can make an audience laugh loudly while still leaving plenty to think about afterward. With Ms. White’s lively direction and a superb ensemble, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play finds both humor and heart in the complicated business of being a teenager.

 

Published October 5, 2026
Reviewed at press performance on October 1, 2026.