As teenagers, we all knew a ‘mean girl’ or two; either you were on the receiving end, or you were the one doling it out. As adults, we also understand that behind all that bravado there is, nearly always, a person riddled with insecurities. It’s this notion, tied in with themes of race, beauty and friendship, that American playwright Jocelyn Bioh explores in this big-hearted comedy that first premiered off-Broadway in 2017.
The action unfurls against the backdrop of a mountainous Ghanaian landscape, and the opening moments are awash with a soft, yellow glow that immediately lands you beneath a hot sun. It’s 1986 at Ghana’s Aburi Girls boarding school, and five schoolgirls - headed up by cruel queen bee Paulina (Tara Tijani) - eagerly await the arrival of the Miss Ghana pageant recruiter. Paulina fancies herself as the front-running contender; that is, until the arrival of pretty, light-skinned transfer student Ericka (Anna Shaffer). Both the girls and the recruiter fawn over Ericka and Paulina flails, feeling the power rapidly slipping from her grip.
Bioh’s dialogue fizzes with both laugh-out-loud quips and savage insults. Despite the text’s specificity of time and place, the writer strikes a universal resonance with the way teenage female friendships can be characterised by both immense pain and fierce loyalty and love. Under Monique Touko’s attentive and playful direction, the play soars into something hugely fun and vibrant – and a great group of performers helps, too.
The schoolgirls are brilliantly cast. Tijani as Paulina strikes a delicate balance between ferocity and, later, vulnerability, and Bola Akeju as Mercy is hilarious – you’ll find your eye continuously drawn back to her. Touko teases out a palpable chemistry in the group that leaves you feeling warmly affectionate, even protective, towards them. They’re also all very funny: a scene in which they all ‘sing for their supper’ in front of the pageant recruiter (Deborah Alli) while adorned in a truly hideous selection of aggressively Eighties, puff-sleeved dresses (lovely costumes by Kinnetia Isidore and wigs, hair and makeup by Cynthia De La Rosa) is particularly amusing.
Alison A Addo is very watchable as the motherly headmistress, and when confronted by the recruiter who herself is a mean girl from the past, the tense dynamic between them demonstrates how these cycles persist into adulthood; the mean girl mentality never fully dies.
There are times when the plot feels a little too predictable, and times when I question the outright, unfiltered cruelty of the friends – isn’t it more slippery and subtext-y with teenage girls, à la Regina George’s ‘that’s so fetch’? The ending also feels oddly abrupt.
Nevertheless, this is an exuberant production that manages to be incredibly fun whilst also highlighting important questions around colourism, racial identity and Eurocentric beauty ideals in a way that isn’t heavy-handed. This show is a tonic, and a joy injection that encourages us to embrace difference – a message, I reckon, we all need to hear right now.
Lyric Hammersmith, to July 15; lyric.co.uk
