Mean Girls - A Handbook for Teenagers Everywhere

Mean Girls hit the ground running and never let up. Full of wit and humour with a fistful of catchy songs the cast never let up from beginning to end. Providing a glimpse of life as a teenager struggling to find their place whilst adding a cautionary tale of how trying to fit in can lead to unexpected consequences.

Adapted from the 2004 film by Mark Waters of the same name, which was in turn inspired by the 2002 book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. Writer Tina Fey has managed to capture all the angst and pressure to fit in into a stage show full of the characters that we can all remember from our school days and who remain as a constant in an ever-changing world.

The show focuses on Cady Heron (Emily Lane) a teenager who transfers to North Shore High School after a lifetime of being homeschooled in Africa. She befriends a couple of outsiders, Janis Sarkisian (Georgie Buckland) and Damian Hubbard (Max Gill), who convince her to befriend the ‘Plastics’, the clique in the school that everyone is in awe of, led by ‘Queen Bee’ Regina George (Vivian Panka), along with her two ‘friends’, the insecure Gretchen Wienners (Kiara Dario) and the sweet, if a little dim, Karen Smith (Sophie Pourret).

As Janis and Damian persuade Cady to spy on Regina’s group, we see the full range of teenage angst from jealousy to shyness and trying to chat up someone of the opposite sex for the first time. As well as meeting the general misfits that inhabit every high school from girls paranoid about their appearance and desperate to be noticed by Regina to gymnasts desperate to be noticed, sports jocks confusing sporting prowess as the maximum turn on and the nerdy ‘mathletics’ team members who struggle to converse if it doesn’t include calculus.

Tina Fey’s script is witty and fast-paced, full of one-liners and is perfectly matched by the songs with music by Jeff Richmond and lyrics by Nell Benjamin from reflective moments when Cady remembers the simplicity of her life in Africa (I See Stars) to wild party songs (Whose House Is This) and the anthemic (I’d Rather Be Me). Everyone has their chance to front a number, and it is refreshing to see and hear so many wonderful vocalists having the opportunity to display their talent.

The set is wonderfully simple with elements of scenery moving effortlessly on and off whilst the inventive use of wheely chairs in choreography was stunning with the cast moving them around effortlessly with ‘blind’ entrances and exits performed with ease and precision. The lighting, while mainly simple and enhancing rather than detracting from the actors, also provides amazing dramatic effects (World Burn), giving an epic backdrop to the number.

Emily Lane as Cady leads the cast with a perfectly paced performance moving from Wannabe to Queen Bee following Regina’s incident and realising the role doesn’t get her what she wants. Sophie Pourret’s Karen is knowingly dumb and wonderful for that reason, whilst Kiara Dario’s Gretchen is desperate for attention and affection, constantly trying to understand what is wrong with her. Completing the triumvirate, Vivian Panka’s Regina controls everything and everyone (even her mother, played by Faye Tozer), with her domineering and put-downs (who would disagree with the Queen Bee?).

Overall, however, the standout performances for me were Max Gill as Damian and Georgie Buckland as Janis. Outsiders, and glad to be, with wonderful acidic quips not forgetting Georgie’s triumphant final song. Worth going to see for their performances alone.

A must for any teenage girl (and their parents), my 14-year-old granddaughter loved it. But this is not just for girls, the trials and pressures are universal. An outstanding show that provides the answer for parents and teenagers everywhere: don’t try to be something you’re not; be true to yourself if you want to be happy.



Mean Girls Bradford Alhambra until Sat 10th October



Mean Girls 2026 UK Tour
LIVERPOOL, Liverpool Empire
Mon 19 Oct – Sat 31 Oct 2026
*Jennifer Ellison as Ms Heron/Ms Norbury/Mrs George

SHEFFIELD, Lyceum Theatre
Mon 09 Nov – Sat 14 Nov 2026
*Faye Tozer as Ms Heron/Ms Norbury/Mrs George*

NEWCASTLE, Theatre Royal
Wed 20 Jan – Sat 30 Jan 2027
*Jennifer Ellison as Ms Heron/Ms Norbury/Mrs George*