School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play by Jocelyn Bioh. Directed by Whitney White. Scenic design by Teresa L. Williams. Costume design by Qween Jean. Lighting design by Stacey Derosier. Sound design by Cody Spencer. Wig, hair, and make-up design by Nikiya Mathis.
Cast: Lucia Aremu, Denée Benton, Patina Miller, Erin Morton, Nia Otchere-Sarfo, Jordan Rice, Jasmine Amy Rogers, Heather Alicia Simms.
Theater: Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
Tickets: SchoolGirlsBroadway.coma

Otchere-Sarfo, Erin Morton, Jasmine Amy Rogers, Jordan Rice, Heather Alicia Simms, Patina Miller, Lucia Aremu, and Denéee Benton Photo by Matthew Murphy

As audience members enter, the stage curtain displays a monumental Ghanaian flag, replete with its signature red, gold, and green horizontal stripes and central black star. One might assume from the nationalistic heraldry that the play will offer a cultural celebration or a political critique of Africa. However, when the curtain rises on the cafeteria of Ghana's Aburi Girls Boarding School, the setting immediately feels familiar to anyone who has ever spent time in a secondary school lunchroom. (Teresa L. Williams's scenic design superbly evinces the institutional environment while giving a breathtaking view of the Aburi Mountains in Central Ghana. Stacey Derosier's lighting, featuring neon and bright fluorescents, and Cody Spencer's jaunty rock music situate the show firmly and efficiently in the 1980s.)

The play takes place in 1986, and the ruthless hierarchy of the school's social life is established instantly. Paulina (Denée Benton), the queen bee of an exclusive clique, is in the midst of fat-shaming Nana (Erin Morton), asking if she is "determined to look like a cow" by indulging in a bowl of porridge. While the other girls in this rarefied hive, including Ama (Lucia Aremu), Gifty (Nia Otchere-Sarfo), and Mercy (Jordan Rice), help sharpen Paulina's sting, they offer Nana a private apology afterward, sheepishly admitting, "We just don't want her coming after us."

Aburi is buzzing with extra intensity because a recruiter from the Miss Global Universe Pageant is arriving to select a potential candidate for Miss Ghana. Headmistress Francis (Heather Alicia Simms), the school's maternal principal, cautions the girls against getting their hopes up, offering the steady reminder that "education is the only gift no one can take away." Nevertheless, Paulina has other ambitions, stating, "College is cute, but I'm thinking about my future realistically." The Miss Ghana crown is practically hers for the taking–that is, until Erika Boafo (Jasmine Amy Rogers), a new transfer student from Ohio, arrives on the scene.

With her long hair and fair skin, Erika possesses a far stronger shot at the title. The recruiter, Eloise Amponsah (Patina Miller), who manages to drop her past glory as Miss Ghana 1966 into practically every sentence, explains that Erika has "a more universal and commercial look." In short, her features align with a Eurocentric ideal of beauty. Eloise makes no secret of her bias, noting Erika is "a girl who can actually stand a chance against the likes of beauty queens from Spain, Brazil, France, or Colombia."

While Bioh's script navigates sensitive topics, such as colorism, teenage cruelty, and childhood trauma, it never loses its sharp comedic edge. The play is beautifully served by Whitney White's buoyant direction and the dazzling performances by the eight women.

As Paulina, Benton is deliciously awful as she puts down her classmates with a withering insult or dismissive clap of her hands. She is completely believable (and practically unrecognizable from her past theatre and television roles) as a high school senior, and she handles Paulina's inevitable downfall with genuine heartbreak.

Rogers is equally wonderful as Erika. Her character has attributes that are cause for envy among the other girls, but in her astute performance, Rogers plays the part as someone who sees her advantages as fleeting, and she tries just a bit too hard to be accepted. During a sidesplitting choral rendition of a Whitney Houston-inspired "The Greatest Love of All," she even manages to stop the show. (Since she made a splash as Betty Boop in 2025, Rogers is not just one of the busiest performers in New York, but she is proving to be one of the finest. Her upcoming performance of Maria in The Sound of Music is surely one of the most exciting prospects of the current season.)

As the play's adult foils, Simms and Miller are exquisitely matched. Headmistress Francis and Eloise Amponsah are alums of Aburi, and in the interactions we watch the high school dynamics reemerge. Simms, dressed in an outfit incorporating traditional Ghanaian Kente cloth, is studious, compassionate, and grounded as the Headmistress, and Miller's Eloise is a middle-aged mean girl. She wears a 1980s sharp-tailored power suit (Qween Jean's costumes, which also include sprightly school uniforms and droll pageant dresses, marvelously evoke the era and cultural styles), and she is hilariously self-absorbed while touchingly embittered. In a brilliant masterstroke, Miller affects a British accent, and this is perfectly in keeping with the character who is trying to erase her African roots.

Deeply funny, exceptionally smart, and impeccably staged, this School Girls earns top honors.