Page 12
January 29, 2020
Brisk and Funny ‘Mean Girls’ Tackles Skin Color
C ontinued from P age 5
its rumored promise of a potential
date with Bobby Brown! -- until
a new girl, Ericka (a lovely Mor-
gan Walker) arrives from the U.S.
She is kind, eager to make friends,
and well-endowed with American
beauty products, knowledge of
American culture, and light skin
that is naturally hers and not just a
sign of better whitening products.
(“Wow! You really are blessed!”
one of the girls exclaims, to Pauli-
na’s evident horror.)
Even the two adults in the pic-
ture--the school’s beleaguered
headmistress, Frances (Kisha Jar-
rett), and her own former rival,
the visiting pageant representative
Eloise (Sara Williams), who finds
a way to mention in nearly every
sentence that she was Miss Gha-
na 1966--embody the essential
conflict that these women carry
in their bodies. Although Frances
urges all the girls to audition for
the pageant, to Frances, Paulina
is the only real contender; she is
driven, deserving, and embodies a
truly Ghanaian standard of beau-
ty. As Paulina gloats to the girls,
“Headmistress likes to make ev-
eryone feel like they have a fair
chance, but we all know I’m the
best.” But once the ambitious and
practical Eloise lays eyes on Eric-
Photo by r ussell J. y oung /P ortland C enter s tage at the a rmory
Tonea Lolin, Kayla Kelly and Andrea Vernae perform as teenage girls who fight over who is prettiest,
most worldly and who has the best shot as a contestant in the Miss Ghana pageant in ‘School Girls’
or, The African Mean Girls Play.’
ka, she sees the promise of a real
shot; Ericka, with her pale skin
and more European features, is
what the judges like to see: “girls
who have a more universal and
commercial look.”
In this brisk and funny play,
it’s a small but powerful point:
even in Ghana, one’s proximity
to whiteness is what determines
one’s value. And even though the
play isn’t subtle and packages its
truth in buoyant humor, the point,
which too few audience members
will have even begun to inter-
rogate, is well made. Colorism
operates relentlessly no matter
where you are.
This production benefits from
a uniformly solid cast that lives
the jokes and nervous energy and
hints of underlying sorrow in their
bodies. These women know the
power of this material and carry
it in every muscle and pore. Each
is funny and beautiful in her own
way, and each (including Taylor)
fails to measure up to the impos-
sible standard of whiteness. And
the show is buoyed by Wanda
Walden’s spot-on costumes, which
comically express the inherent
humor in African girls aspiring
to 1980s American pop culture,
which is itself somehow inherent-
ly and comically aspirational.
Bioh’s play feels too short;
I wish she had carried her very
good idea a bit deeper. But spend-
ing a brisk 80 minutes with these
splendid women is too precious an
opportunity to miss. The produc-
tion runs through Feb. 16.
Darleen Ortega is a judge on
the Oregon Court of Appeals and
the first woman of color to serve
in that capacity. Her movie and
theater review column Opinion-
ated Judge appears regularly in
The Portland Observer. Find her
review blog at opinionatedjudge.
blogspot.com.
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‘Life is Fare,’ an Eritean/American film, dives into both the struggles and joys of being part of an
immigrant community in the United States. The film will conclude the five-week Cascade Festival of
African Films on Saturday, Feb. 29 at the Hollywood Theatre. The director Sephora Woldu will be in
attendance at the screening.
From the African Perspective
C ontinued from P age 6
a Civil War.” This autobiograph-
ical performance by Ifrah Man-
sour explores Somalia’s civil war
through poetry, puppetry, videos,
and interviews, confronting a vio-
lent history with humor. The per-
formances are 1 p.m., Saturday,
Feb. 8 and 5 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 9
at the Moriarty Auditorium.
Other highlights include mati-
nee shows for the whole family, a
focus on women filmmakers and
a special series showcasing fully
re-mastered classic films from
seminal African filmmakers.
For the complete calendar of
film screenings and director ap-
pearances, visit africanfilmfesti-
val.org.