Ciera Dawn, seen here in a photograph from the 2020 production, plays a titular mean girl in Goodman Theatre’s Chicago-area premiere of “School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play” by Jocelyn Bioh.
From the moment nine years ago when Ciera Dawn saw Goodman Theatre’s production of David Mamet’s “Race,” she knew she would one day appear on its stage.
Last year, days before Goodman’s Chicago-area premiere of Jocelyn Bioh’s “School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play” and days before Dawn was to realize her teenage dream, the theater closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A recording of the show, filmed last year during previews, streamed online during the pandemic, but Dawn — who plays queen bee Paulina — remained convinced the show would go on.
Now, it will. Live, in-person performances of the comedy, set at a girls boarding school in Ghana, resume Monday, Aug. 2.
“I wanted to come back to give this role, this character and especially this story the life it deserves before an audience,” said the actress, whose director Lili-Anne Brown shared her optimism.
“I know how the sausage is made,” said Brown. “I knew it would be extremely foolish and wasteful for the Goodman to ditch this show.”
The sets were built, the costumes completed, the designers compensated all without the theater receiving any return on its investment, said the Joseph Jefferson Award-winner who’s directed productions at Drury Lane, Metropolis, American Blues and Sideshow theaters among others.
Lili-Anne Brown directs Goodman Theatre’s production of “School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play.” – Courtesy of Joe Mazza by signing up you agree to our terms of service
Confident of Goodman’s commitment, Brown couldn’t be sure her cast would be available for the reopening. Three actors, Dawn included, relocated during the pandemic, Brown said. One moved out of the country. Yet all but one of the original cast members returned.
They had a week of rehearsals before previews commenced July 30.
Returning to the theater posed challenges for everyone, said Brown, who expressed admiration for her ensemble.
“They’re amazing,” she said. “This was terrifying for them as well as triggering.”
According to Brown, one of the women said being in the rehearsal room again reminded her of one of the worst days of her life — when live theater and so many other places were shuttered because of the pandemic.
Imagine the biggest opportunity you ever had is over, right now, and indefinitely, Brown said.
“Not only was that a dark day, it was the first day of a very dark year and a half,” she said.
As theaters reopen, the time is right for a play Brown describes as “a finely crafted Black girl comedy.”
“When is the last time you saw a play that was all Black women, about all Black women and based in joy and not trauma?” she said.
Brown read the play on the suggestion of artistic director Robert Falls, who was considering it for Goodman’s season.
It was “love at first read,” recalls Brown. “It’s an almost perfect play and there aren’t many of those around.”
Tiffany Renee Johnson, left, and Adia Alli, seen here in a photograph from the 2020 production, co-star in Goodman Theatre’s Chicago-area premiere of “School Girls; Or The African Mean Girls Play.” – Courtesy of Liz Lauren
In the aftermath of 2020’s racial reckoning, it’s a story that needs telling, Dawn said.
“It’s important to see the humanity of Black girls,” she said. “The full humanity of Black people is not always seen … our full humanity, in that we can be mean, we can have fun and we can be children and make the mistakes children make.”
“There’s not a lot of space young Black children, particularly girls, have been allowed to occupy,” she added.
In the case of “School Girls,” audiences will see teenage girls being teenage girls, said Dawn, and all the humor, love, affection and awareness that entails.
Be prepared to be moved, she advises audiences. And be prepared to laugh.
• • •
“School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play”
When: Previews at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 30-31, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 1. The show opens at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 2.
Where: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago
Tickets: Previews: $15-$30; regular run: $20-$45. (312) 443-3800 or goodmantheatre.org
COVID-19 precautions: Limited capacity, masks required
