Manhattan Theatre Club will present the world premiere of Lucille Lortel Award winner Jocelyn Bioh's Jaja's African Hair Braiding, directed by Obie Award winner Whitney White, as the first production in its 2023-24 Broadway season. Get Jaja's African Hair Braiding tickets on New York Theatre Guide.
The Jaja's African Hair Braiding play is named for a fictional Harlem salon staffed by a lively group of West African immigrant women. As they create artistic masterpieces with hair during one hot summer day, they discuss love, secrets, and dreams. All this happens as they also confront a more ominous feeling they share: that of feeling like outsiders, now more than ever, in the place they've always called home.
Bioh performed on Broadway in 2014's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, but Jaja's African Hair Braiding marks her Broadway playwriting debut. She's already built a fast-rising career off Broadway, winning an Outstanding Play Lucille Lortel Award for School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, which also earned multiple other honors. She followed that show up with an adaptation of Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor for Shakespeare in the Park and a romantic comedy called Nollywood Dreams, again earning critical praise.
She teams up with director Whitney White for Jaja's African Hair Braiding on Broadway. White also makes her Broadway debut after earning an Obie Award for directing Our Dear Dead Drug Lord off Broadway. Her other recent credits include soft and two Aleshea Harris plays: What to Send Up When It Goes Down and the Pulitzer-nominated On Sugarland.
Get tickets to Jaja's African Hair Braiding in New York.
1h 30m
September 12th, 2023
November 19th, 2023
By: Jocelyn Bioh
Director: Whitney White
Producer: Manhattan Theatre Club, Madison Wells Live, LaChanze, Taraji P. Henson
Cast list: Brittany Adebumola (as Miriam), Maechi Aharanwa (as Ndidi), Rachel Christopher (as Jennifer), Kalyne Coleman (as Chrissy/Michelle/LaNiece), Somi Kakoma (as Jaja), Lakisha May (as Vanessa/Radia/Sheila), Nana Mensah (as Aminata), Michael Oloyede (as James/Sock Man/DVD Man/Jewelry Man), Dominique Thorne (as Marie), Zenzi Williams (as Bea)
Design: David Zinn
Costumes: Dede Ayite
Lighting: Jiyoun Chang
Sound: Justin Ellington
Other info: Video design by Stefania Bulbarella, hair and wig design by Nikiya Mathis, dialect and vocal coaching by Dawn-Elin Fraser
Elevator access, wheelchair access, assisted listening devices, on-demand closed captioning, open captioning, audio description, Braille and large print Playbills
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Obie Award-winning playwright Jocelyn Bioh makes her Broadway debut with this new comedy. During one hot day at the title salon, a group of women grapple with the changing identity of their neighborhood and themselves. Book your own salon appointment by getting tickets.
Jaja's African Hair Braiding on Broadway is playing at Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. The theatre is located at 261 West 47th Street, New York, 10036.
The running time of Jaja's African Hair Braiding on Broadway is 1h 30m
Book tickets for Jaja's African Hair Braiding on Broadway on New York Theatre Guide.
Jocelyn Bioh, the award-winning author of School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, wrote Jaja's African Hair Braiding. The show marks her Broadway debut as a playwright.
Whitney White directs Jaja's African Hair Braiding, which marks her Broadway debut. She previously won an Obie Award for staging Our Dear Dead Drug Lord off Broadway.
Jaja's African Hair Braiding is recommended for ages 16 and older. Please note that children 4 and younger are not permitted in Broadway theatres.
Yes — Jaja's African Hair Braiding, in the capable hands of its award-winning playwright and director, tells a poignant, funny, and lively story about community among Black women.
Unfortunately, tickets for this event are no longer available.
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