School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play at Townsend Center for the Performing Arts

The University of West Georgia Theatre Company opens our 2021-2022 Celebrate Women season with School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play, an eye-opening story about impossible standards of beauty in 1980s Africa from Ghanaian-American playwright Jocelyn Bioh. Most of us are familiar with the 2004 classic, Mean Girls, but Bioh's version of this story delves further beneath the surface of the topics explored in the original telling and creates a touching story about overcoming the expectations of society to truly accept and love yourself. This heartfelt play is most often performed by professional theaters, but with its contemporary take on long-standing struggles, School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play is the perfect show for the UWG Theatre Company.

In 1986, at a girls boarding school in Ghana, is a group of friends headed by Paulina Sarpong, a beautiful yet ruthless girl who will stop at nothing to become the 1986 Miss Ghana, and possibly Miss Global Universe, putting Ghana on the map of international beauty. Paulina is left with no doubts that she will take the crown until Erika Boafo arrives at school and immediately makes herself out to be a threat to Paulina's chances. Erika is well-liked, rich, pretty--with light skin highly desired by the pageant world--and she is in Paulina's way. Join us as we see what vicious lengths Paulina will go to in order to protect her chances at the crown, and her own secrets.

Authors

• Jocelyn Bioh