Schoolgirls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play review – comedy makes near-perfect Broadway debut | Broadway

After its 2017 Broadway premiere, School Girls; However, the African Mean Girls Play transferred to Los Angeles, was remounted in New York the following year and has since been presented in over 75 theaters across the United States, as well as a successful run in London. It’s easy to see why: Jocelyn Bioh’s one-act comedy has a familiar structure, richly detailed characters, and an onslaught of delicious barbs. Plus, it has the good sense of an 80-minute runtime.

Her splendid Broadway debut is more than just a victory lap, in a freshly glorious production directed by Whitney White. Having directed Bioh’s Tony-winning Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, the director is no stranger to an all-female ensemble and often relies on a team of usual suspects to make her shows stand out: Nikiya Mathis, who won a special Tony for Jaja’s hair and wigs, and Qween Jean, whose costumes enlivened the Pulitzer Prize-winning film Liberation, ensure that there is always a visual splendor on stage.

But Bioh’s play is the play, tracing an all-girls Ghanaian school clique that disperses and regroups upon the arrival of an American transfer student in 1986. Before that, lead Paulina (Denée Benton) was certain she would be the school’s choice for the Miss Ghana beauty pageant, treating her friends Ama, Gifty and Mercy (Lucia Aremu, Nia Otchere-Sarfo and Jordan Rice) like servants and being particularly cruel towards tall people. Nana (Erin Morton).

Enter new girl Ericka (Jasmine Amy Rogers), an instant hit at school – charming, gorgeous and eager to please – and an instant threat to Paulina’s reign. This is where Bioh’s storyline gets trickier: Ericka has much lighter skin than Paulina, which, according to pageant recruiter Eloise (Patina Miller), gives her a “more universal and commercial” advantage. Our attachment to the value of the queen bee is complicated by the reality of colorism. And, of course, capitalism is never far away, with the headmistress (Heather Alicia Simms) tempted to look the other way since the competition would reward the understaffed school with a large cash prize.

School Girls doesn’t proudly seek to reinvent the wheel, and there’s comfort in its simple machinations even as it explores its complex themes. Bioh said she abandoned the idea that misery was synonymous with importance early in her writing career, but her plays carry the sociocultural weight that one imagines she initially decided to highlight through unsmiling drama.

As in Jaja’s African Hair Braiding or Nollywood Dreams, set in Lagos, this is a comedy – period – but sustained by a deft specificity. School Girls respects its teenagers’ right to frivolous fights, Bioh respects the challenges of their particular situation, and it is in this combination that his plays become so impactful. Bioh’s experience as an actress also means she knows exactly how to create vivid dialogue and wonderfully individual characters, which White (herself a performer and playwright) is completely comfortable bringing to life for this knockout cast.

Miller and Simms are stage veterans with warm presences and a relaxed nobility perfectly suited to adult roles. Aremu, Otchere-Sarfo, and Rice create distinct (and distinctly funny) portraits of Paulina’s ostensible sidekicks, and Morton embodies empathy and drive.

Benton commits to the diva her characters have long embodied, even as she loses her grip on her classmates, and brings genuine pathos to this fall. Her dueling dynamic with Rogers is pitched perfectly, reaching its climax during a group number the girls perform for the pageant recruiter — as they take turns performing Whitney Houston’s Greatest Love of All, Rogers becomes the Eve Harrington to Benton’s Jenna Maroney. The way Benton draws a single line, slowing the tempo as if to draw attention to itself, is a masterclass.

As for Rogers, what can I say that hasn’t received jaw-dropping acclaim over the past two years? The Boop! Breakout can apparently do no wrong, having triumphed in musicals (pop, jazz, contemporary, and soon Golden Age, when it takes on The Sound of Music in March) and now showing that it can excel in straight-forward plays as well. If there were ever a misstep to be made – and that’s a huge “if” – it would always be overshadowed by his megawatt charisma and obvious grace.

Scenic designer Teresa L Williams creates an attractive school cafeteria, flanked by cinder blocks and with sweeping views of the stormy mountains that portend both the heat and turbulence to come. Transitions, handled quickly without rushing, are supported by Ghanaian highlife songs heard precisely through Cody Spencer’s sound design. He is an expert in producing smiles. For what is clearly one of the most beloved plays of the last decade, this Broadway debut is a nice homecoming.