We all recall high school horror stories that served as fodder for TV and movies - Freak and Geeks, Gossip Girl, Glee, Heathers, Mean Girls.)

Arriving on Broadway a decade after its Off-Broadway run, School Girls, or the African Mean Girls Play is sharp and insightful. Set in the Aburi Girls Boarding School in Ghana, the action focuses around Paulina and her entourage. The girls cater to her whims and acknowledge her leadership and beauty. They constantly feed her ego, telling her how lovely and talented she is. And Paulina (Desiree Benton from Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, TV’s Gilded Age) is sure to be chosen to represent the school in the Miss Ghana pageant. That is until a newcomer to the school, Ericka, an American transfer student, arrives, threatening to upset the balance of power.

Paulina can be warm and welcoming. In fact, she has included the heavyset Nan (Erin Morton) into their clique, while strictly monitoring what Nana eats. She’s also overbearing and downright nasty. At one point, when Nana hesitates doing something that Paulina demands of her, she turns on the girl, calling her names and threatening her.

Paulina’s goal is to be chosen for the Miss Ghana pageant 1986. She sees it as her way to fame and success. Her selection seems likely until Ericka (played by Jasmine Amy Rogers (soon to be Maria in LCT’s revival of The Sound of Music) arrives. Paulina immediately sizes her up as competition.Threatened, she is determined to learn Ericka’s secrets

Not only is Ericka pretty and talented but, as the product of a Ghanese father and an American mother, she has lighter skin. She wins over Paulina’s groupies quickly with her tales of the US and her willingness to share her make-up and chocolate.

The girls prepare a song to present in front of the pageant coordinator, a former Miss Ghana winner herself, (Patina Miller as a vain, egotistical beauty.) Eloise Amponsah, a former student from the school and Headmistress Francis (Heather Alicia Simms) have a thorny history and don’t like one another, suggesting a rivalry from years before.

During the competition, the girls each get a solo, but when Ericka belts out the part, everyone, including the audience, is awed. Used to being the best, Paulina is crestfallen and even more determined to take her competition down.

The talented ensemble provides comic relief. It takes a bit of time to get used to some of their accents and the girls speak quickly. Yet their personalities emerge. Sweet gentle Nana is thrilled to have been accepted into the group. Gifty (Nia Otchere-Sarpo) and Mercy (Jordan Rice) are cousins who are always together, watching out for one another. Ama (Lucia Aremu) is Paulina’s ‘best friend’ and a straight talker.

Benton and Rogers work well together and their characters’ distaste for one another becomes obvious when they fight. Their exciting interactions make for lively theater, especially as they throw punches. (Fight Consultant Unkledave’s Fight-House.)

Directed by Whitney White, the play is billed as a comedy. However, it is more than a universal story about nasty high school kids and how rough high school can be. The play by Jocelyn Bioh, (JaJa’s African Hair Braiding ) is about skin color and discrimination since it’s Ericka’s lighter skin that gives her extra advantages.

In high school we often dreamed of graduation and being out on our own. Years later, many recall high school wistfully and even nostalgically, forgetting the pressures. With humor, a bit of music and sharp dialogue, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play makes you kind of glad those days are behind you.