About the Play:

Jaja's African Hair Braiding is a full-length dramatic comedy by Jocelyn Bioh. Welcome to Jaja's bustling hair braiding salon in Harlem where every day, a lively group of West African immigrant hair braiders work their magic on the locals' locks. However, the uncertainty of their circumstances simmers below the surface of their lives, and when it boils over, it forces this tight-knit community to confront what it means to be an outsider on the edge of the place they call home.

Jaja's African Hair Braiding invites your audience to step into a vibrant hair salon in Harlem, where a lively community of West African immigrant hair braiders weaves together humour and heart in a celebration of artistry and resilience. Amidst the laughter and playful shop talk, a diverse group of women share dreams, love stories, and hidden secrets, all while creating stunning braided masterpieces. On a sweltering summer day, Jaja's rule-following daughter Marie is running the shop while her mother prepares for her courthouse, green-card wedding – to a man no one seems to particularly like. Just like her mother, Dreamer Marie is trying to secure her future; she's just graduated high school and all she wants to do is go to college. While Marie deals with the customers' and stylists' laugh-out-loud drama, news pierces the hearts of the women of the salon, galvanizing their connections and strengthening the community they have longed to make in the United States.

Jaja's African Hair Braiding premiered in 2023 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway in New York City. Since then the play had regional premieres at professional theatres across North America.

Cast: 9 female, 1 male

What people say:

"Wickedly entertaining…a sparkling ensemble comedy as tautly woven as one of the intricate hairdos in Jaja's Harlem salon." — Washington Post

"Bioh pays tribute to the bonds women share...You will be entertained, enlightened, and moved." — New York Amsterdam News

"Critic's Pick!...Hot and hilarious…a riotously funny workplace comedy." — The New York Times

"Bristling with wit and drama...has all the energy and rich character interplay that her excellent award-winning, School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play, possessed." — The Daily Beast

"Bioh breathes both joy and grief into these women within her stellar script, giving them each their own distinct personalities and lived-in experiences…The result is a play that is equally as affecting as it is hilarious." — Entertainment Weekly

About the Playwright:

Jocelyn Bioh is an award-winning Ghanaian-American writer and performer. Born and raised in New York City, she is a first generation American whose parents emigrated from Ghana in West Africa. She received her MFA in Theatre/Playwriting from Columbia University.