Straight from a twice-extended Broadway run, making its Regional Premiere. Welcome into Jaja’s, a bustling Harlem hotspot where West African immigrant braiders work their magic on the locals’ locks. Amidst the lively buzz of a scorching summer day, pull up a chair with Marie, Bea, Miriam, Aminata, and Ndidi as love blossoms, dreams flourish, and secrets are revealed. But uncertainty simmers below the surface, and this tight-knit community must confront what it means to be an outsider on the edge of the place they call home. Written by Tony-nominated Ghanaian-American playwright Jocelyn Bioh (School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play) and directed by Chicago’s own award-winning director Whitney White, this laugh-out-loud comedic gem “is equally affecting as it is hilarious,” hails Entertainment Weekly.
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Jaja’s African Hair Braiding is a co‑production of Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Arena Stage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and La Jolla Playhouse