School Girls; or The African Mean Girls Play by Jocelyn Bioh premiered in 2017 at the MCC Theater under the direction of one of my creative heroes, Rebecca Taichman. I was FLOORED by the play. It was so funny, so honest, brazen even. The playwright was so young! The actors so young! And Whitney Houston! Don’t get me started about how much I anchor my childhood on Whitney Houston. To me, School Girls felt like watching the future of contemporary theater emerge from the rubble of New York’s elitist history of centering western, white, predominantly male stories. As a scholar of feminist dramaturgy, I freaking LOVED it.
Beacon alumna Hawa Jalloh, actor, playwright, director (and engineer!) went to see School Girls during its initial run when she was just a wee B’DAT kid and she too LOVED it. She came back glowing and wishing we could produce it at school. I knew then we eventually would and I wouldn’t do it without her either.
In October of 2018 I had the opportunity to meet Jocelyn Bioh in a playwriting masterclass where I was seated immediately to her left. Through the many hours we spent together at that table I was completely overwhelmed by her warmth, charm, and grace. That, and she had fabulous nails and a firm grip. When she got excited she grabbed my arm repeatedly. I was so inspired and knew that I'd met another creative spirit sister. Someone who gets theater the way I do - someone who knows the power of words can be both a weapon and a salve. I believe her biting humor has so much power to heal.
School Girls is hip, fresh, poignant, and NEW. It gifted me, a white woman from Flatbush, Brooklyn, an opportunity to feel through the experience of witnessing my limited world view inverted. A world where a light skinned character was the minority in an empowered Black Girl world. A play that humanizes its villain to the point where we see how truly broken villains really are under their armor of hate. The play humbled me. It hurt. And it also delivered a hearty slice of witty hope for girls everywhere. There are plays that grab you and this one has had me by the neck for years. I knew producing it would be a challenge for both our creative community and our audience. Because at a time when empathy feels like it’s in short supply - School Girls invites all of us to feel something profound. Many people shy away from that right now. It’s all too much. The world is too raw. But every single person I’ve asked to read or see this play has had the same reaction: It moved me. Deeply.
So I added the play to our curriculum. We read it during the lockdown. Students LOVED it. I used it for scene study. Students LOVED it.
Still dreaming of producing it someday, I’ve watched the demographics of Beacon finally start changing to be reminiscent of the school I enthusiastically joined in 2004. It’s nowhere near perfect yet, but I have to hope that we're returning to a Beacon whose diversity is its strength and where students from all over the planet are welcome to take a seat at big tables, to learn, discover and create.
Last year a cohort of incredibly dedicated, gifted and most importantly HILARIOUS students of color emerged in the theater community as class leaders. And yet our cast emerged from the entire Beacon community.
