Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play now appearing at Boston’s SpeakEasy tells a tale of a group of six adolescent girls in their at the Aburi Girls Boarding School in Ghana in the 1980s. A comical show at times, it is also disturbing since it is deals with colorism which differs from racism in that lighter skin is considered more attractive than dark even amongst some black people. As the show begins, the clever, strong-willed, and pretty Paulina Sarpong (Ireon Roach) who is 18 has appointed herself the leader of the other four girls, thus becoming the most popular girl in school. Her popularity rubs off on her followers who enjoy their status. …

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Photo Nile Scott Studios

Small Mouth Sounds now playing at Boston’s SpeakEasy is influenced by the personal experience of its playwright Bess Wohl who underwent the rigors of a silent retreat. The six characters that arrive at the retreat mostly alone seem to be there to change and better their lives during their five day stay. Since speech plays a relatively small role, the actors often use a form of mime to make themselves clear and the audience often needs to use guesswork to follow the action. Though the characters’ names appear in the program, they are not spoken. …

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