Home / Arts and Entertainment / Broadway Welcomes African Mean Girls Play This Fall
Broadway Welcomes African Mean Girls Play This Fall
17 Mar
Summary
- Jaja's African Hair Braiding creators reunite for new play.
- The African Mean Girls Play premieres September 8.
- A second MTC production, The Unbelievers, is set for 2026.
The creative forces behind the Tony-nominated "Jaja's African Hair Braiding" are reuniting for a Broadway premiere. Playwright Jocelyn Bioh and director Whitney White will bring "School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play" to the Manhattan Theatre Club's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Performances are scheduled to commence on Tuesday, September 8.
The play is set at Aburi Girls Boarding School, where the ambitious Paulina believes winning the Miss Ghana pageant will bring her fame and fortune. The competition intensifies with the arrival of a new American transfer student, leading to unexpected personal rivalries.
This comedy originally premiered Off-Broadway in 2017-2018 and has since enjoyed numerous regional productions and a UK premiere in 2023. It is one of the first productions selected by new artistic director Nicki Hunter.
Manhattan Theatre Club also revealed plans for an Off-Broadway production during the 2026-27 season: the American premiere of Nick Payne's "The Unbelievers." Directed by Knud Adams, this play will begin performances at NY City Center on Tuesday, October 13. It explores a blended family grappling with the unsolved disappearance of their teenage son and learning to navigate their altered lives.
