These are women boasting bold laughs and heavy hearts, who twist and manipulate hair until their fingers swell from the effort. Still, the play moves beyond the intricate hairstyles-though many are displayed here (the hair and wig design is by Nikiya Mathis)-to highlight the women at the heart of these shops. Carts full of combs, braiding gel and oil sheen sliding over the floor feel familiar to any Black woman who has spent a good portion of her life in those worn leather chairs. The television screen propped near the ceiling displays Afrobeats music videos or a Nollywood movie more enticing than anything seen in the theaters recently. On the set designed by David Zinn, the salon’s walls are painted a deep, robust pink, with bags of braiding hair hanging along the walls. The beauty of “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” is the play’s ability to bring life to a seemingly mundane space. Joining Marie and Miraim are Aminata (Nanah Mensah), who is holding on to the fragments of her marriage Ndidi (Maechi Aharanwa), the fun-loving Nigerian braider who’s been accused of stealing clients and Bea (Zenzi Williams), the braider whose been at Jaja’s since it opened a decade ago, and whose dreams of her own shop remain out of reach. Through her marriage, the shop owner hopes to solidify American citizenship for herself and Marie. As the women begin setting up, the audience learns that this isn’t just another summer day. The sweet-hearted braider Miriam (Brittany Adebumola), who dreams of bringing her young daughter to America from Sierra Leone, follows on Marie’s heels. After a quick rundown of her chaotic morning, Marie opens the shop. However, a lack of immigration papers and the expensive requirements of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program have stalled her plans for university. Born in Senegal, Marie has called Harlem home for nearly a decade and a half.
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