But they all make convincing teenagers in all their complexity and contradictions (special kudos to Ashe Jaafaru for making us hate and love Paulina, her mean girl persona covering hurt and insecurity). From where I was sitting in the back row of the theater, the women playing the students all looked 16, although closer up and in street clothes one can tell they're fully grown women. In the specificity of the lives of these Ghanaian young women in 1986, there are universal truths about the world we live in today.ĭirector Shá Cage does fine work with this short but dense script, and this ensemble of eight women of color is just fantastic. A rivalry that culminates when a Miss Ghana recruiter (Hope Cervantes) arrives to scout for the pageant and is also charmed by the light-skinned Ericka, believing that she'd have a better chance in the global pageant. Suddenly the power dynamic shifts, as the girls are fascinated by Ericka's clothes, make-up, and lighter skin color, setting up a rivalry between her and Paulina. Into their midst comes American-raised Ericka (Eponine Diatta), finishing out her schooling in her father's native country. Paulina (Ashe Jaafaru) is obviously the leader of the group (played by Aishé Keita, Kiara Jackson, Nimene Sierra Wureh, and Salome Mergia), exhibiting subtle and not so subtle control over the other girls, despite the attempts of the stern but kind headmistress (Ivory Doublette) to intervene. It's the second week of the new school year, and this group of five friends is acting like teenage girls anywhere - chatting about boys, music, homework, and fashion. Like in The Wolves, they're all fully formed complex humans that I'd like to spend more time with. In a very fast 70 minutes, we get a glimpse into these girls' lives as they deal with family pressure, poverty, bullying, competition, colorism, and problematic standards of beauty. Although their lives growing up in West Africa are likely very different from most of you reading this blog, their emotions, struggles, triumphs, and dreams are the same. But this time instead of American soccer players, the girls are students at a prestigious boarding school in Ghana. On the heels of the remount of the 2018 hit The Wolves, Jungle Theater brings us another smart, funny, touching, nuanced portrayal of teenage girls in the new play School Girls or, the African Mean Girls Play by Ghanaian-American playwright Jocelyn Bioh.
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