“Look confident. Be confident. This. Is. Yours.” - Paulina, Part III

This biting and buoyant comedy, “ferociously entertaining, as heartwarming as it is hilarious” (The Hollywood Reporter), arrives in Chicago on the heels of a critically acclaimed, extended run Off-Broadway. As the reigning queen bee at Ghana’s most exclusive boarding school sets her sights on the Miss Universe pageant, a new student unexpectedly changes the game. This “gleeful African makeover of an American genre” (The New York Times) spotlights the universal similarities—and glaring differences—of teenage girls around the globe.

EXPLORE THE 2019/2020 SEASON

• Playwright, Jocelyn Bioh

  Jocelyn Bioh is a Ghanaian-American writer/performer from New York City. Her play School Girls Or, The African Mean Girls Play (Kilroy’s List 2016) recently completed successful runs at the MCC Theatre and Center Theatre Group. Bioh conceived and wrote the libretto for The Ladykiller’s Love Story (music/lyrics by Cee Lo Green), which is in development at the historic Apollo Theatre, NYC.

  Other plays include Happiness And Joe, Nollywood Dreams (Cherry Lane Mentor Project 2017, Kilroy's List 2015) and African Americans (Produced at Howard University 2015; Southern Rep Ruby Prize Award Finalist 2011; O'Neill Center Semi-Finalist, 2012). Bioh received her MFA in Theatre/Playwriting from Columbia University. She is under commission to Manhattan Theatre Club and the Atlantic Theater Company and is a Resident Playwright at LCT3.

  As an actress, Bioh’s credits include: In The Blood (Signature Theater), Everybody (Signature Theatre; Lucille Lortel Award nomination, Best Supporting Actress 2017), Men On Boats (Clubbed Thumb at Playwrights Horizons), The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Broadway; Tony Award Winner for Best Play, 2015), An Octoroon (Soho Rep, Obie Award Winner for Best Play, 2014), Booty Candy (Wilma Theater), Seed (Classical Theater of Harlem, Audelco Award Nominee), and Marcus; Or The Secret Of Sweet (City Theatre). She also originated the role of "Topsy" in the World Premiere of Neighbors (The Public Theater, Audelco Award Nominee).

  TV credits include acting as a former Cover Girl spokesmodel, Blue Bloods (CBS), The Detour (TBS), The Characters (Netflix), Louie (FX), and One Life To Live (ABC). Bioh was most recently staffed on season two of Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It for Netflix and wrote an episode of the Netflix show Russian Doll.

  

• Director, Lili-Anne Brown

  A native Chicagoan, Brown works as a director, actor and educator, both locally and regionally. She is the former artistic director of Bailiwick Chicago, where she directed Dessa Rose (Jeff Award), Passing Strange (BTA Award and Jeff nomination for Best Director of a Musical), See What I Wanna See (Steppenwolf Theatre Garage Rep) and the world premiere of Princess Mary Demands Your Attention by Aaron Holland.

  Other directing credits include The Wolf at the End of the Block (16^th Street Theatre), Marie Christine (Boho Theatre), Peter and the Starcatcher (Metropolis Performing Arts), The Wiz (Kokandy Productions),  Xanadu (American Theatre Company), Jabari Dreams of Freedom by Nambi E. Kelley (Chicago Children’s Theatre), American Idiot (Northwestern University); the national tour of Jesus Snatched My Edges; and Little Shop of Horrors, Hairspray, Unnecessary Farce, Cabaret, Sweet Charity, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story at Timber Lake Playhouse. 

  She is a member of SDC, SAG-AFTRA and a graduate of Northwestern University. Brown is directing Lottery Day, the final play in Ike Holter's "Rightlynd Saga," in the Goodman's 2018/2019 Season.