Jaja's African Hair Braiding (Broadway) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (379)
See it if you want to experience a stellar show that is well-acted, funny, and outstanding in all the ways.
Don't see it if the accents took a minute to get used to, but I was easily able to follow the storytelling.
See it if You are looking for a meaningful show, beautifully put together! Funny, thought-provoking, deeply human!
Don't see it if This show is a Must see! Read more
See it if you want to start your evening laughing at relatable moments that transcend culture, then end your evening profoundly sad and changed by it
Don't see it if immigrant struggles and cultural complexities are only okay with you when they’re funny— it gets real at the end here and it’s shocking Read more
See it if You want to see an amazing play. It was so engaging and very honest and real. I think everyone should see it
Don't see it if you should just see it.
See it if You want to see characters who feel realistic as if they just walked in off the street, appreciate fantastic comedy, and see harsh realities
Don't see it if You’re looking for straight comedy or drama Read more
See it if The stage reveal is delightful. Pace is quick and lively. Performances are outstanding. Relatable no matter your sex or race.
Don't see it if you don't want to see stories of immigrant struggles. Some humor relates directly to the hair struggles of women of color, but funny to all.
See it if you want to see the funniest show to have arrived on Broadway in years. Perfect cast and a rare LOL-show that also has something to say
Don't see it if you can't get tix. Also, if you're a 30U35 member, get seats in the Orchestra. There's show elements you'll miss if you're in the Mezzanine
See it if Hilarious, very moving. STELLAR cast and excellent playwrighting
Don't see it if It really is a great time and everyone should go
Critic Reviews (26)
CRITIC’S PICK: “The first 80 minutes of the 90-minute play...are a buffet of delights. Even David Zinn’s set for the beauty shop’s interior, once the grate is unlocked and lifted, receives entrance applause. From that moment on, the director, Whitney White, keeps the stage activated and the stories simmering at a happy bubble.”
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“Despite some narrative clunkiness, ’Jaja’ offers plenty to celebrate...It's a passionate portrayal of Black womanhood in Harlem and all the diverse experiences that encompasses. And it's a love letter to the artistry of hair braiding, a millennia-old form of artistry that allows its participants to express themselves even as they transform themselves. Much like theatre.”
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“Bioh has written a colorful, tactile, and caring work, letting us in on both the beauty of the braiding process...and the intense labor of it”
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“ ‘Jaja’s’ is a comedy about life as it is lived in this place, about community, aspiration and entrepreneurship. Mostly, though, it’s a show about immigrants getting the job done, and having fun doing it, one braid at a time.”
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“ ‘Jaja’s African Hair Braiding’ celebrates business owners like Jaja and the ladies who work for her. It’s also a portrait that illustrates everything it takes for Black women, especially immigrants, to survive in this country. Amid the sacrifices and the tears, the play showcases the community these women build among themselves and how they care for each other when no one else will.”
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"“This bittersweet facet of the play seems to be token Bioh’s not-so-sunny perspective, which emerges as the 95 minutes of ‘Jaja’s’ wind down, when she introduces a harsher reality...You sense in her fate the dramatist’s anger, as she pulls the rug of joy out from under ‘Jaja’s’ and forces us to confront a colder truth about the dangers immigrants face. The customers’ braids may hold, it seems, even when the braider’s life unravels.”
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“Writing what you know works out wonderfully well for playwright Jocelyn Bioh in ‘Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,’ a sparkling ensemble comedy as tautly woven as one of the intricate hairdos in Jaja’s Harlem salon...The playwright does at the end of this wickedly entertaining evening give in to the urge to highlight her characters’ plights a bit too baldly.”
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“There are no easy answers to the complex problems that ‘Jaja's African Hair Braiding’ presents, and certainly none that can be solved within the span of a single day. Instead, the play encourages viewers to inspect the way the current world works and, hopefully, leave its salon with a greater sense of compassion and understanding for those around them tirelessly working to make ends meet.”
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