Episode #376
School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play — Denée Benton, Patina Miller, and the Race for Miss Ghana
In this episode of "Half Hour," we take a deeper look at School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, Jocelyn Bioh's comedy now making its Broadway premiere with Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Set at Aburi Girls Boarding School in Ghana in 1986, the play follows Paulina, the school's queen bee, as she sets her sights on the Miss Ghana pageant. Then a pageant recruiter arrives and a new student from America changes the competition. We break down how the 80-minute play opens like a familiar teen rivalry and turns into something more serious, and how Bioh uses a single school cafeteria to explore colorism, class, beauty standards, and the reach of American pop culture. We also talk about Whitney White's direction, which reunites her with Bioh after Jaja's African Hair Braiding, the performances from Denée Benton, Jasmine Amy Rogers, Patina Miller, and Heather Alicia Simms, the costume, wig, hair, and makeup design, and the ending that stayed with us after we left the theater. We close with early Tony predictions and who we think should see it before the limited run ends. Follow and connect with all things @HalfHourPodcast on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Share your thoughts on this production in the Spotify comments, and let us know what you would like us to cover next. If you enjoy these post-show discussions, follow Half Hour and leave a rating and review so more theater lovers can find the podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
