# School Girls takes on colorism with humor and heart

> Jocelyn Bioh's play about Ghanaian teenagers competing for Miss Ghana 1986 ends its Broadway run this week, exploring beauty standards and toxic girlhood.
- Title: School Girls takes on colorism with humor and heart · NPR
- Summary: Jocelyn Bioh's play about Ghanaian teenagers competing for Miss Ghana 1986 ends its Broadway run this week, exploring beauty standards and toxic girlhood.
- Keywords: school girls, jocelyn bioh, broadway, ghana, colorism, beauty standards, denée benton, aburi girls boarding school, NPR
- Source: NPR — https://npr.org/2026/11/10/g-s1-152641/get-in-loser-broadways-newest-mean-girls-are-ready-to-insult-and-enlighten-you
- Published: 2026-11-10T00:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: school girls, jocelyn bioh, broadway, ghana, colorism, beauty standards, denée benton, aburi girls boarding school, news
## A crown worth everything
At Aburi Girls Boarding School in Ghana in 1986, six teenage girls compete for Miss Ghana. For them, winning means fame, fortune and everything.
## Paulina rules through cruelty
Queen bee Paulina bullies her crew over their looks. She harasses Nana about eating porridge instead of an apple, asking: do you want to be fat-fat or fit and popular.

> So, do you want to be fat-fat? Or fit? And popular.
## A transfer student changes everything
When Ericka arrives from Ohio, she exposes Paulina's toxic behavior and outshines her during a performance of Whitney Houston's Greatest Love of All.
## Colorism becomes the real battle
Ericka's lighter skin sparks conflict between the school's headmistress and pageant director over who has the best chance of winning Miss Global Universe.
## Bioh writes from personal experience
Playwright Jocelyn Bioh, who is Ghanaian-American, wanted to write about colorism after her own journey to own her beauty as a dark-skinned woman.
## A universal message about beauty
Bioh says colorism is a global issue. She asks: who decided this one standard of beauty is the standard for everybody? That's a problem.

> Who has decided that this one standard of beauty is the standard of beauty for everybody? I think that's a problem.
## Audiences see themselves reflected
The all-Black female cast shows diverse physical appearances. Bioh says audiences, even those without Ghanaian experience, see facets of themselves in these girls.
## The play's impact lingers
Nearly ten years after its Off-Broadway premiere, School Girls ends its Broadway run this week with livestream broadcasts available on The League of Live Stream Theater's website.
## Bioh hopes for shifted perspectives
Bioh hopes audiences walk away with empathy for the girls and women. She asks people to shift their ideas about things, even just a little bit.

> I ask people to shift their ideas about things. If you can just move it just a little teeny bit, then I guess, you know, I've done my job.
## Key takeaway

School Girls, Jocelyn Bioh's Tony Award-nominated play about Ghanaian schoolgirls competing for Miss Ghana 1986, ends its Broadway run this week after nearly ten years since its Off-Broadway premiere, using humor to tackle colorism and beauty standards.