SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY Extends at MCC Theater

MCC Theater has announced the extension by popular demand of the World Premiere of School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play, written by 2017-18 Tow Playwright-in-Residence Jocelyn Bioh, and directed by Tony Award winner Rebecca Taichman.

Previously scheduled for a limited run through December 10, School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play will now play through Saturday, December 23 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street).

It was also announced that a cast talkback has been added following the December 18 evening performance, and audience conversations have been added following the December 12 evening performance and the December 16 matinee performance.

The cast features Nabiyah Be (Black Panther, Hadestown), MaameYaa Boafo (Untamed), Paige Gilbert (Street Children), Obie Award winner Zainab Jah (Eclipsed), Nike Kadri (The Death of the Last Black Man...), Abena Mensah-Bonsu (Ragtime on Ellis Island), Mirirai Sithole (The Death of the Last Black Man...), and Lortel Award nominee Myra Lucretia Taylor (Familiar).

In School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play, Paulina, the reigning queen bee at Ghana's most exclusive boarding school, has her sights set on the Miss Universe pageant. But the arrival of Ericka, a new student with undeniable talent and beauty, captures the attention of the pageant recruiter--and Paulina's hive-minded friends. This buoyant and biting comedy explores the universal similarities (and glaring differences) facing teenage girls across the globe. How far would you go to be queen bee?

The creative team for School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play includes scenic design by Arnulfo Maldonado, costume design by Dede M. Ayite, lighting design by Jen Schriever, sound design by Palmer Hefferan, hair and wig design by Cookie Jordan, dialect coaching by Deborah Hecht, and casting by Telsey + Company/Adam Caldwell, CSA, William Cantler, CSA, Karyn Casl, CSA. Production Stage Manager Laura Wilson and Stage Manager Ayisha Hunt.

MCC Theater broke ground on its first permanent home- a two-theater complex on West 52nd Street and 10th Avenue-on March 22, 2016. Set to open in 2018, the space will unite MCC's diverse roster of programs under one roof for the first time in the company's three-decade history. The new facility will also allow MCC to expand its programming and establish it as a cultural anchor within the Clinton neighborhood. The $35 million project is funded by a public-private partnership between the Theater and the City of New York, with $30 million raised to-date.

MCC is one of New York's leading nonprofit Off-Broadway companies, driven by a mission to provoke conversations that have never happened and otherwise never would. Founded in 1986 as a collective of artists leading peer-based classes to support their own development as actors, writers and directors, the tenets of collaboration, education, and community are at the core of MCC Theater's programming. One of the only theaters in the country led continuously by its founders, Artistic Directors Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, and William Cantler, MCC fulfills its mission through the production of world, American, and New York premiere plays and musicals that challenge artists and audiences to confront contemporary personal and social issues, and robust playwright development and education initiatives that foster the next generation of theater artists and students.

MCC Theater's celebrated productions include Penelope Skinner's The Village Bike; Robert Askins' Hand to God; John Pollono's Small Engine Repair; Paul Downs Colaizzo's Really Really; Sharr White's The Other Place (Broadway transfer); a fully reimagined version of the legendary musical Carrie; Jeff Talbott's The Submission (Laurents/Hatcher Award); Michael Weller's Fifty Words; Alexi Kaye Campbell's The Pride; Bryony Lavery's Frozen (Broadway transfer; four 2004 Tony Award nominations including Best Play, Tony Award for Best Featured Actor); Tim Blake Nelson's The Grey Zone; Rebecca Gilman's The Glory of Living (2002 Pulitzer Prize finalist); Margaret Edson's Wit (1999 Pulitzer Prize); and ten plays by Playwright-in-Residence Neil LaBute, including Reasons to Be Happy, reasons to be pretty (Broadway transfer, three 2009 Tony Award nominations, including Best Play), Some Girl(s), Fat Pig, The Mercy Seat, and most recently All The Ways To Say I Love You. Many plays developed and produced by MCC have gone on to productions throughout the country and around the world.

Blake West joined the company in 2006 as Executive Director. MCC will open its first permanent home in 2018 in Manhattan's Clinton neighborhood, unifying the company's activities under one roof for the first time and expanding its producing, artist development, and education programming.