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GOALS
GOALS
To encourage personal connections between the students and the major themes of the play.
To excite students about the story and introduce the theatrical elements of the production.
To engage students using the actors’ tools (body, voice, imagination).
ADHE THEATRE APPRECIATION STANDARDS
ADHE THEATRE APPRECIATION STANDARDS
RE.7: Students will perceive and analyze artistic work.
RE.8: Students will interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.
RE.9: Students will apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
CN.10: Students will synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experience to make art.
CN.11: Students will relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Before seeing School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, what was your perception of pageants, the people who compete in them, or the reasons that someone might compete in them? Did the play shift, change or challenge those perceptions? If it did, how? If not, why not?
Jocelyn Bioh was inspired to write School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play by a controversy at the 2011 Miss Ghana pageant. The winner, Yayra Erica Nego, was an American-born and Minnesota-raised biracial woman. Officials claimed that her father was from the obscure Volta region of Ghana but never confirmed his name or whereabouts. What do you think led the Miss Ghana Pageant officials to think this contestant would be a more more viable in the Miss Universe pageant?
The characters in School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play have strong opinions about American culture. As a young person living in the United States, what opinions surprised you? What did those perceptions reveal about the characters? What perceptions do you have of the culture of Ghana, where this play is set? What informs our opinions about cultures with which we have not personally had contact?
This year, for the first time ever, the Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, Miss America, Miss Universe and Miss World pageants all crowned Black contestants as their winners. Do you think this signifies a major shift in the ways the pageants deal with racism and racial beauty ideals? Does it signify a larger societal shift? Why or why not?
Though the play takes place in Ghana, the story and characters feel familiar. From Jocelyn's perspective, comedy is a way of inviting people in to relate to foreign characters and situations. She believes that laughter lends the story universality. "When people feel like they're having a good time, it releases them to connect and open their ears and hearts." What do you see as the benefit of putting a comedic lens on serious themes in a play? What elements of this play resonate with an audience?
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