Jaja's African Hair Braiding

Jaja's African Hair Braiding is a 2023 comedic play written by American playwright Jocelyn Bioh. The play premiered on Broadway as part of the Manhattan Theatre Club's 2023–2024 season.

Synopsis
The play takes the audiences inside Jaja's bustling hair braiding salon 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.

Production history
The play premiered on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on October 3, 2023, with previews starting September 12. The play closed on November 19, 2023, after 56 performances. The show extended twice from its original end date and offered live streams of the show for the final week of performances. The play was directed by Whitney White and was commissioned by the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2018. Among the producers of the show are LaChanze and Taraji P. Henson.

Following the Broadway production, the show is set to tour, beginning in September at Arena Stage in Washington D.C., Berkeley Repertory Theatre in November, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater in January 2025.