“We’ve come to see shows here. Some of our professors were in shows here and now those same people get to come and see us do what they taught us to do,” she says.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Pittsburgh Public Theater Hopes ‘School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play’ will help the city’s theater scene become more diverse
“We’ve come to see shows here. Some of our professors were in shows here and now those same people get to come and see us do what they taught us to do,” she says.
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This article reminds me of conversations that we have had in some recent classes. We have been discussing why we do theatre, why this show at this time, why is this relevant, and this article highlights those answers. This article shows that this show is relevant to the Pittsburgh community promoting diversity but also important on a bigger scale starting conversations. The conversations that theatre and live performance is arguably more important than the production itself. This show does a fantastic job at starting or at least promoting conversations regarding colorism. I think that everyone who has the opportunity and time to go and see this show while it is running at the Public Theatre, they should. I have seen some images of the set and wow it looks beautiful, and hopefully I have some time before December 8th to go and see it because it looks amazing and stands for the right things.
This concept of a play seems like a really interesting take on "Mean Girls". Not only does the playwright place the play in Ghana, but uses the idea of colourism to create a conversation about race and diversity in Pittsburgh. I love how live theater and shows use their medium to push ideas forward to create conversation within the community that they feel need to be addressed in some way. The purpose of live theater is to entertain with stories, but it is also to push to boundaries set by the community and question them. I also love that the actors who portray African characters are from different parts in Africa. This allows the play to be interpreted realistically and portrayed realistically, giving the audience a good portrayal to pull from in their conversations. I hope that I will be able to watch this play as it seems to be important to the community of Pittsburgh, and a whole lot of fun to watch.
This show sounds incredible! As a fan of the movie Mean Girls, I think this would be a really great play to go and see. For my playwriting class, we're challenged to write a one-act play with at least one character who is from a different country as ours, and I've taken on writing a show that takes place in a different country in an entirely different time period. It's really, really challenging and has given me a new appreciation for plays that take place somewhere other than the USA. It's so great to see this diversity and this chance to learn about another culture. The idea of an elite boarding school in Ghana is just so genius! I really relate to this playwright, in fact, because she wrote this about her mother's experience, and I actually am writing my play based on my father's experiences!
I think that seeing plays with this kind of diversity is not just inclusive, it's honestly really educational too. I know nothing about Ghana, and having the chance to go see this and learn about the elite boarding schools of Ghana would be such a fun and interesting way to get to know the world a little better.
I am planning on going to watch this play and I am glad there is something that is different and diverse being out on stage in Pittsburgh. Not sure if this would cause similar changes to happen across but I hope it does. There was an article about this same play that talks about the message the play sends out and if it is actually meeting its target. I share the same sentiment. I am really glad that we get to see diversity on stage but at the same time, I am kind of sad and worried that with plays like this the message might not get to the people that need it the most. Colorism is a big issue in the black community and can be directly linked to racism and the power it continues to hold. Being Nigerian (born and raised), dark skin and going to an all girls boarding secondary school, I can definitely relate to the role colorism played in my growing up. I would have appreciated a play like this back then and I know little black/African girls and boys would appreciate seeing this play and be a part of the conversations that need to be had in the black/African community concerning colorism.
Warning: contains spoilers.
Well… I do not prefer typical Mean Girls like school stories with queen bees and stuff in the first place, because I find it difficult to empathize with any characters without a sense of intelligence. However, putting that aside, I went to see this show last Thursday. (I am trying to follow the advice Jamie gave us past month “see everything!”) The show itself was just as I expected, Mean Girls with the aspect of skin color, expressed by a tacit agreement among school girls that lighter the skin color the better. However, the most interesting part about my visit to the Pittsburgh Public Theatre was that I was the only Asian in the audience. Though I might be too self-conscious, because I was sitting right next to and vertical to the stage, half facing the audience, I felt the stare other audience, especially when the girls were talking about how the miss universe finalists are almost all white. In that situation, I felt that show was far away from diversity as this article suggests. There were no Asians or other ethnicities mentioned in the play, other than white or black. Now, I do not think the play was unsuccessful and I understand what they are really trying to achieve, but I just have to note here how WE are always put aside in this kind of controversy.
It’s so important for everyone to see themselves represented. Like Markia says, she used to come to the public and see shows while in school. Many more girls will come by and see her show, get inspired and see that they belongs in the stage, or backstage, but somewhere in the theatre community. On the other hand, not particular to this show or company, I would like to see more inclusion in theatre. In a way that it’s not only black and white plays, but having a mixed pool of creators. All the diverse efforts go away if only one show of the season is black, and that’s where you put all the black artists, which I’ve seen happen. I know there are instances where the nature of the play demand a black or latinx director, designer, etc.. but that is not a reason to only hire them for those shows.
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