Jeff Richmond (music), Tina Fey (book), Nell Benjamin (lyrics), Mean Girls UK Tour Ltd and others
Venue Cymru, Llandudno, Mon 20 – Sat 25 July 2026
(4.5 / 5)
Mean Girls must rank in many peoples favourite high school romance movies, but why is it so appealing? Of course this genre would not appeal to everyone, it was notable that the audience must have been over 80% female, but there is enough in this stage adaptation to make it a worthwhile watch for anyone.
It is Tina Fey’s storyline that holds your attention. A girl, Cady Heron who has been homeschooled in Kenya, starts high school in Illinois. After suffering a culture shock, she is befriended by the most exclusive group of friends who take her on out of curiosity. Slowly, with the help of a couple of so called social outcasts, she ‘dethrones’ the ‘Queen Bee’, Regina, and takes her place and adopts a lot of Regina’s nasty, cruel behaviours as she learns how to handle being popular so suddenly. Naturally Cady has to face her critics, learn her lessons and all are reconciled in the end. While this plot does not seem out of the ordinary, it is the acute observation, clever rejoinders and satirical humour that makes the story memorable.
The cast approach this play with energy, enthusiasm and tight control. The characterisation follows the 2004 movie which could pose difficulties, especially for Emily Lane as Cady having to follow on from Hollywood star, Lindsay Lohan. To her credit, she is convincing in making the character her own. The same could be said of the Mean Girls, Vivian Panka as Regina, Kara Dario as Gretchen and Sophie Pourret as Karen. However, some of the supporting parts are also excellent, Max Gill and Georgie Buckland have great chemistry as Damian and Janis. The teachers, Joshua Elmore as Mr Duvall and Faye Tozer as Ms Norbury portray the illusion that they are in control. The choreography is excellent, fast moving, coordinated and varied. There is imagination in set design, and fast transitions between scenes.
The story has enduring appeal as it depicts quite accurately the dynamics of teenage friendship. Girls in particular but not exclusively have been known to weaponise their friendship, using it to exclude those who want to belong, manipulating others to impose their will and then criticising even their best friends to make themselves look better. There are no heroes or villains here, just individuals finding their identity, becoming themselves and wanting to belong to a community. Many can identify with these factors. Even some parents could smile knowingly at the duplicitous Cady who engineers an opportunity to be on their own in the house of a weekend so they can stage a party which then got out of hand.
There is a strong and welcome exercise in honesty and forgiveness near the end which promotes the fairly obvious idea that friendship is far more important than looking good. The finale is great, with plenty of energy and opportunities for the cast to showcase their character. This was met with a rousing reception and sealed the feel good ending well. By the way, it was not Wednesday so I did not wear pink.
