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(PLAINFIELD, NJ) — Beauty, ambition, and fierce humor combine in School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play, a comedy by Jocelyn Bioh loosely based on the movie Mean Girls. Set at a boarding school in Africa in 1986, School Girls dramatizes the infighting among a group of high school girls with their sights set on the Ghanaian competition that is a prelude to the Miss Universe Pageant. School Girls will be presented by Dragonfly Multicultural Arts Center at duCret School of the Arts in Plainfield September 16-18. 

Dragonfly, a nonprofit theatre company dedicated to diverse stories and casts, is presenting School Girls as the third play of a porch play series. This program is made possible in part by a 2022 HEART (History, Education, Arts Reaching Thousands) Grant from the Union County Board of County Commissioners. The porch plays, begun during the pandemic, give audience members opportunities to enjoy quality theater in an outdoor, parklike setting at duCret School of the Arts in Plainfield. 

In School Girls, Paulina, the reigning queen bee at Ghana’s most exclusive boarding school, has plans to compete in the Miss Global Universe pageant. But the arrival of Ericka, a new student with both talent and beauty, upsets the school’s social balance as she captures the attention of the pageant recruiter. This upbeat and biting comedy explores the universal similarities and differences facing teenage girls across the globe. School Girls was called “a gleeful African makeover of an American genre” by The New York Times. and “ferociously entertaining” by The Hollywood Reporter. 

School Girls is directed by Mimi B. Francis, who appeared last summer in Dragonfly’s porch play production of Having Our Say. It is stage managed by Jada Davis and stars Vivette Alson, Jolé Antoinetté, Emily Grace Dennis, Mariah Elliott, Keturah Ford-Walker, Melyssa Searcy, Gabriella Stewart, and Kayla Stewart.

Advisory: School Girls is recommended for ages 13 and up. The competition for Miss Ghana is fierce, and the characters use adult language and have frank discussions of body shaming, classism, colorism and self-image. School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play will be performed Friday, September 16 at 6:30pm; Saturday, September 17 at 6:30pm; and Sunday, September 18 at 3:00pm.

Tickets are available for purchase online and at the venue. Performances will be outdoors at duCret School of the Arts, 1030 Central Avenue, Plainfield. Attendees should bring their own chairs unless it rains. In case of rain, the performance will be inside in the duCret auditorium–no chairs needed. Tickets are $15.00 for adults and $10 for seniors and students.   

Photos by Catherine LaMoreaux. (TOP) from left to right: Mariah Elliott, Keturah Ford-Walker, Melyssa Searcy, Vivette Alson, Jolé Antoinette, Emily Grace Dennis (BOTTOM) from left to right: Mariah Elliott, Keturah Ford-Walker, Melyssa Searcy, Vivette Alson, Emily Grace Dennis, Jolé Antoinette