Jaja’s African Hair Braiding opened on Broadway in 2023 with a run that prolonged twice. Ghanaian American playwright and actor Jocelyn Bioh’s comedy earned six Tony nominations, nabbing two awards for costume design and wig design.
Buoyed by its Broadway success, the play — a day-in-the-life story of a Harlem magnificence salon in New York — set off on a nationwide tour. A neighborhood cease at Chicago Shakespeare Theater opens this week and runs by means of Feb. 2.
Beneath the laughs, this full of life comedy is a portrait of African immigrants striving to make it in America. And although it’s set in Harlem, the play has some Chicago bonafides: Three of the ladies on its artistic staff are Chicago natives wanting to deliver a poignant story concerning the immigrant expertise to their hometown whereas highlighting the distinctive fantastic thing about Black hair.
“Chicago is my group and my dwelling,” mentioned director Whitney White, Tony-nominated for the present’s Broadway run. (She now lives in New York.) “I’ve a hair braider I’ve been going to my entire life: Clem’s African Hair Braiding on [North] Broadway. Every thing I perceive about Jaja’s African Hair Braiding comes from my roots and my experiences. So, to have the ability to share it with my group is an honor.”
White is a graduate of the Latin College of Chicago and break up her early years between the North and South sides. “I grew up going to Chicago Shakes,” she mentioned — in actual fact, one of many first performs she ever noticed was at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the place she finally took performing courses from mainstay casting director Bob Mason. Now White is directing The Final 5 Years, a two-hander starring singer Nick Jonas, on Broadway.
Jaja’s whole story unfolds over the course of at some point inside a bustling New York magnificence salon. A sequence of wigs present purchasers at completely different phases of the braiding course of. All through the present, the immigrant staff contact on their experiences working, residing and surviving in America.
“I prefer to joke and say it’s like Black Harry Potter,” White mentioned, “as a result of so many purchasers come out and in, and the magic of how they get their types performed — I gained’t give it away, nevertheless it’s unbelievable.”
This implies a heavy elevate for the crew behind the scenes, with some actors sporting as much as six completely different wigs all through the present.
Chicago native Melanie Brezill, a Whitney M. Younger Excessive College alumna, performs a number of clients and will get her “hair” styled on stage.
“[My characters] vary from being the shopper that’s preparing for her birthday hair to the shopper that’s somewhat bit nervous, and the shopper that’s the common within the store — she’s snug, she brings in her meals and he or she’s on a reputation foundation with the braiders. And I’ve received to say that at one level in my life, I’ve sort of been all of them.”
Brezill says the script does a superb job depicting the intimate connection between stylist and shopper. “As a Black lady, your hair is admittedly your crown,” she mentioned. “And [stylists], they’re like dream-fulfillers. You go in a technique, and you allow feeling good about your self and feeling empowered. And whilst you’re sitting there, somebody is definitely utilizing their arms to create artwork with one thing that is part of you.”
Tiffany Renee Johnson, who grew up in Morgan Park, performs Aminata, a stylist in Jaja’s salon. She says the present captures the essence of being in a salon, and that’s what connects the manufacturing to the viewers.
“There’s an important familial factor that occurs within the present,” Johnson mentioned. “And I’ve seen when folks come to see the present, they discuss how acquainted it’s and the way a lot they see themselves within the characters and within the story, as a result of it reminds them of the experiences that they’ve had so many occasions.”
However the present is much more than creative hairstyles and massive laughs. Beneath the comedy and the hustle, the play gives a well timed message that provides audiences one thing to chew on afterward.
“I feel audiences will get to take a look at these West African ladies and see their humanity,” mentioned Johnson. “Audiences will take into consideration what their lives could also be like and the way a lot work it’s to do one thing like their hair, and the way a lot time and power, and likewise what life is like once they’re not within the store.”
For Brezill, tackling powerful subjects within the midst of entertaining an viewers is the fantastic thing about theater. “I feel that in that hour and a half that you simply watch Jaja’s, you’ll go away with a little bit of understanding and empathy for folks coming to the nation with a objective to succeed in the American dream,” she mentioned. “And hopefully, you’ll be taught a brand new perspective, and also you’re modified since you get to narrate to them and also you get to see a snapshot of their life.”
Mike Davis is WBEZ’s theater reporter.
