SpeakEasy Stage Company Presents the New England Premiere of SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY

From May 3 - 25, 2019, SpeakEasy Stage Company will present the New England Premiere of the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway comedy, SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY by Jocelyn Bioh.

The play takes place in 1986 at Ghana's top boarding school where Paulina, the school's reigning "queen bee," has her sights set on representing her country in the Miss Global Universe Pageant. Things change quickly, however, with the arrival of Ericka, a new student from Ohio, who, with undeniable talent and beauty, captures the attention of both the pageant recruiter and Paulina's hive-minded friends. Throwing unsparing light on questions of ambition, deceit, and the ultimate value of a fair-skinned complexion, this show spotlights the universal similarities and glaring differences facing teenage women around the globe.

Author Jocelyn Bioh is a Ghanaian-American playwright/writer/performer from New York City.

Her plays include: African Americans (Ruby Prize Finalist 2011); Nollywood Dreams (The Kilroys' List, 2015); the musical, The Ladykiller's Love Story, which features music and lyrics by CeeLo Green; and most recently, Happiness and Joe, a romantic comedy. She was a staff writer on season two of Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It for Netflix and wrote an episode of the Netflix show Russian Doll. Ms. Bioh also has a distinguished stage career, having appearing in Off-Broadway or regional productions of In the Blood, Everybody, Men on Boats, An Octoroon, and Bootycandy. She also appeared in the original Broadway cast of the Tony Award-winning play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Two-time Norton Award-winner Summer L. Williams will direct SpeakEasy's production of SCHOOL GIRLS. A co-founder and Associate Artistic Director of Boston's Company One Theatre, Ms. Williams has directed the local premieres of Miss You Like Hell; Leftovers; Wig Out!; Barbecue; Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again; An Octoroon; Colossal, and SpeakEasy's 2016 production of Bootycandy.

The cast for this New England premiere production includes Geraldine Bogard, Victoria Byrd, Crystin Gilmore, Ireon Roach, Kris Sidberry, Tenneh Sillah, Sabrina Victor, and Shanelle Chloe Villegas .

Design team is Baron E. Pugh (scenic); Miranda Kai Giurleo (costumes); Devorah Kengman (lighting); and Allyssa Jones (sound). L. Arkansas Light is the Production Stage Manager.

SCHOOL GIRLS will run for four weeks, from May 3-25, 2019, in the Roberts Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St. in Boston's South End.

There will be a special Sensory Friendly performance on Tuesday, May 14 at 7PM.

Ticket prices start at $25, with discounts for students, seniors, and persons aged 25 and under.

For tickets or more information, the public is invited to call the box office at 617.933.8600 or visit www.SpeakEasyStage.com .

SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY was developed as part of the MCC PlayLab Series, and premiered Off Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theater in New York City in November, 2017. The show was extended twice. The production then traveled to the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles in September, 2018, before returning to MCC for another extended run this past fall. So far, Kansas City, Minneapolis, and Toronto have enjoyed regional productions, with more to come in the 19/20 Theatre Season.

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