Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Opening Night: January 1, 1970
Theater: Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
Website: www.manhattantheatreclub.com
This dazzling world premiere welcomes you into Jaja’s bustling hair braiding shop in Harlem where every day, a lively and eclectic group of West African immigrant hair braiders are creating masterpieces on the heads of neighborhood women. During one sweltering summer day, love will blossom, dreams will flourish and secrets will be revealed. 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.di
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October 3, 2023
“Jaja’s” is full of such treasurable moments, when the drama feels tightly woven with the comedy. And if the weave frays a bit at the end, what doesn’t? Like the Strawberry Knotless Afro-Pop Bob, it’s still a great look.
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October 4, 2023
“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” is a refreshing, verbose play, crackling with vibrant characters and culturally-specific comedy — both signatures of playwright Jocelyn Bioh.
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October 3, 2023
At Jocelyn Bioh’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, which follows a day in the life of braiders and customers at the eponymous (fictional) shop in Harlem, waves of glee roll through the audience on the regular.
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October 3, 2023
It’s also a portrait that illustrates everything it takes for Black women, especially immigrants, to survive in this country. Amid the sacrifices and the tears, the play showcases the community these women build among themselves and how they care for each other when no one else will.
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October 3, 2023
Even though “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” takes place entirely in the hair salon, as does “Steel Magnolias,” the play is a series of short skits, as is “The Women”; and like that Boothe Luce play, many of those scenes lack a good button. They tend to dribble away dramatically rather than end with a comic bang.
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October 3, 2023
What lands, over and over again (going by the gasps and responses of the audience), is Bioh’s dialog as expertly, relishingly delivered by her actors. Bioh is not just adept at writing the wit and vim of the conflicts and rivalries at the store, but also the deep friendships and loyalties within it too.
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October 3, 2023
Her Broadway debut, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding at MTC’s Friedman Theatre, presents the deluxe version of all her gifts, in a lively production cheerfully directed by Whitney White as a hangout you never want to leave.
READ THE REVIEWOctober 3, 2023
Bioh breathes both joy and grief into these women within her stellar script, giving them each their own distinct personalities and lived-in experiences.
READ THE REVIEWOctober 3, 2023
By design, clearly. You don’t need to be a Black woman with braids to enjoy this play. Heck, it might teach you something about the intricacies of a craft you only have observed from afar. But this play is also trying to reach a Black popular audience, long ignored by Broadway.
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October 3, 2023
After years of analyzing plays for their achievements and blunders, it’s rare for me to walk out of a theater with a single thought in my mind: I loved it. And yet those three words floated in my brain after Jocelyn Bioh’s new Broadway comedy Jaja’s African Hair Braiding at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Friedman Theatre.
READ THE REVIEWOctober 3, 2023
And at the end of the day, despite some narrative clunkiness, Jaja offers plenty to celebrate.
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