Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Review Highlights: SCHOOL GIRLS; OR THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS - Spotlight Youth Theatre

Valerie Winch and De'Layla Wilcox
Photo by Tiffany Elyse Photography

highlights from local critics reviews - (click link at bottom of each review to read complete review)

Click here for more information on this production that runs through April 21

"The high stakes world of high school cliques, where the queen bee female student reigns over all and decides who can join her group of "popular" kids, is a familiar plot element immortalized in many movie comedies of the past several decades, including Tina Fey's film and later stage and film musical Mean Girls. Playwright Jocelyn Bioh takes the much-loved blueprint but moves the location to 1980s Ghana and also gives a nod to Fey in the title of her refreshing 2017 dramedy, School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play. It's a warm and funny comedy and also a moving drama that shows how similar teenage girls are around the world while also focusing on issues of race and self-image. With a wonderful cast and crisp direction, Spotlight Youth Theatre's production is excellent...Under Chanel Bragg's assured direction, the cast all create compelling, nuanced, and realistic performances. Bragg's direction brings realism to the production which makes you identify with, understand, and feel for every character as well as the complexities of female relationships, particularly in the face of peer pressure and bullying...With a talented cast, who bring authenticity and depth to their respective roles, and direction that perfectly balances the comic and dramatic moments in the show, Spotlight Youth Theatre's production...is full of both humor and heart."  - Gil Benbrook, TalkinBroadway.com (click here to read the complete review)

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