Jocelyn Bioh's 'School Girls' Opens September 8

L-R: Abena Mensah-Bonsu, Mirirai Sithole, Paige Gilbert, Joanna A. Jones, MaameYaa Boafo and Latoya Edwards in the MCC Theater production of “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play” at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Written by Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Rebecca Taichman, “School Girls” will run through September 30, 2018.
Photo by Craig Schwartz.

Performances have begun for the hit MCC Theater production of Jocelyn Bioh’s “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play” directed by Rebecca Taichman. Currently, in previews, the production will open September 8 at 8 p.m. and continues through September 30, 2018, at Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre.

Following the Los Angeles run at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, the MCC production of “School Girls” will have an encore run at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York from October 16 through November 25, 2018.

The cast for “School Girls” includes, in alphabetical order, MaameYaa Boafo, Latoya Edwards, Paige Gilbert, Joanna A. Jones, Abena Mensah-Bonsu, Mirirai Sithole and Myra Lucretia Taylor and Zenzi Williams.

The creative team includes set design by Arnulfo Maldonado, costume design by Dede Ayite, lighting design by Jen Schriever, sound design by Palmer Hefferan, dialect coaching by Deborah Hecht and casting by Telsey + Company/Adam Caldwell, CSA, William Cantler, CSA, Karyn Casl, CSA. Laura Wilson is the production stage manager and Ayisha Hunt is the stage manager.

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. Jocelyn Bioh’s buoyant and biting comedy explores the universal similarities (and glaring differences) facing teenage girls across the globe.