About the Show

A comedy set in a Ghanaian school where a pageant sparks rivalry and ambition.

Set in 1986 at the Aburi Girls Boarding School in Ghana, the play follows Paulina, the dominant and ambitious leader of her peers, who is determined to win the Miss Ghana pageant. When a recruiter visits the school, the competition intensifies, but Paulina’s control is challenged by the arrival of a new American transfer student. As rivalries deepen, the stakes shift from surface-level ambition to questions of identity, beauty, and belonging.

The play is written by Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Whitney White, reuniting the team behind Jaja’s African Hair Braiding. First staged Off-Broadway, the production now makes its Broadway debut, presenting a satirical examination of colorism, cultural perception, and competition within a school setting.

Critic Reviews (5)

"has some moments of bitterly divisive meanness but, with its plentiful laughs and tears, it’s also uplifting, unifying, and funny"
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"The play's essential questions demand answers: what we are willing to do, and what choices we will refuse when confronted with injustice and inequality in all forms."
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The Broadway version has a longer running time, a more elaborate set and extravagant costume design, and a starrier cast than the original Off-Broadway production. But it also somehow feels slighter
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‘School Girls’ sprays a thin mist of social commentary over its familiar genre-based story but it really shines in the comedic set pieces, including a hilariously off-kilter rendition of a Whitney Houston ballad. ★★★★☆
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"Jocelyn Bioh is a very gifted writer in her ability to make piercing, biting, scathing observations about the world rolled into a comedic context."
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