"School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play" Extends at T2
By Jocelyn Bioh and directed by vickie washington
Now playing on-demand through March 14
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS—February 9, 2020—TheatreSquared’s original production of School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play by Jocelyn Bioh will extend nationwide streaming through March 14, 2021 to meet demand. T2 continues to innovate in the national streaming field with School Girls joining past, acclaimed, extended productions like The Half-Life of Marie Curie (“inherently dramatic, beautifully staged” – The Wall Street Journal) and Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy (“Best of 2020” – The New York Times).
“Audience members have written, called our box office, and shared messages on our social media about what a joy it’s been to experience this play,” said T2 Executive Director Martin Miller. “They’ve also asked for more time to share the experience with friends and family. We’re delighted to continue streaming performances through March 14 to share the work of these incredible artists with a broader community.”
Winner of the 2018 Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, in School Girls, “the nasty-teen comedy genre emerges wonderfully refreshed and even deepened by its immersion in a world it never considered” (CRITICS’ PICK—The New York Times).
It’s 1986, and Paulina is the reigning queen bee at Ghana’s most exclusive boarding school, and has her sights set on the Miss Global Universe pageant. But the arrival of Ericka, a new student from Ohio with undeniable talent and beauty, captures the attention of the pageant recruiter—and Paulina’s hive-minded friends. This buoyant and biting new comedy, twice extended in its acclaimed New York debut, is sweeping the nation’s stages, and has become a cultural phenomenon.
Access School Girls starts at just $25, and can be purchased online at theatre2.org or by calling 479.777.7477.
Playwright 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 appeared 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.
Cast and Creative Team
Director vickie washington is a theatre artist who directs, acts, produces, and teaches. She received the Dallas Observer 2015 Best Director recognition for the world premiere production of Jonathan Norton’s Mississippi Goddamn. Additional directing credits include Solstice–a New Holiday Adventure, Passing Strange, A Motown Christmas, Sunset Baby, Fences, Speech and Debate, Magnolia, The Ballad of Jane Elkins, Angela’s Mixtape, The Little Tommy Parker Celebrated Colored Minstrel Show, Four Little Girls: Birmingham 1963, and Fabulation. Her performance credits include; Primer for a Failed Superpower with The TEAM, a Brooklyn based devised theatre company, Crowns, for colored girls…, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, …and Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi, Contribution, The Tempest, Piano Lesson, A Lesson Before Dying, Home, Macbeth, and From the Mississippi Delta for which she received Best Actress recognition from the Dallas Critics Forum. Her acting credits extend to the screen with Random Acts of Flyness (HBO), Indie films, They Charge for the Sun, Swimming in Your Skin Again (official Sundance selection), and Steps of Faith. She is founder and producing director of r. t. w ~ reading the writers, a readers theatre performance organization. Her work as a theatre artist extends to sharing her talent, passion, and knowledge with the students of Dallas’ Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts as an instructor and director in the theatre department.
The play features performances by Makha Mthembu as Paulina Sarpong and Amira Danan as Ericka Boafo, in their T2 debuts. T2 alum Na’Tosha De’Von (The Royale, Ain’t I a Woman) also returns to the West Theatre stage alongside LaKecia Harris, Michelle Bester, Maya Vinice Prentiss, Shariba Rivers, and Jasmine Rush.
Additional members of the creative team for School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play include Baron E. Pugh (Scenic Design), Azalea Fairley (Costume Design), Jason Lynch (Lighting Design), Twi McCallum ( Sound Design), Yetunde Felix-Ukwu (Dialect Coach) and Shawn Irish (Camera Director).
The show is sponsored by Lead Show Sponsors Joel & Lynn Carver, and Esther Silver-Parker & Ronald Parker with additional support from show sponsors Susan & Orville Hall.
Performance Schedule
School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play is captured live at TheatreSquared and offered as an on-demand, streamed performance. Patrons can reserve a 24-hour on-demand window for any date between now and March 14, with access beginning at noon each day and continuing through noon the following day.
Ticket Information
For tickets, visit theatre2.org. For additional ticket assistance, contact the Box Office at TheatreSquared at 479.777.7477 or email tix@theatre2.org.