JAJA'S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING Comes to the Mark Taper Forum

Center Theater Group has announced the Tony-winning Jaja's African Hair Braiding by Joceyln Bioh and directed by Whitney White, a Tony nominee for this production, Obie winner and now 2025 Drama League Founders Award winner for Excellence in Directing. The production runs October 1 to November 9 at the Mark Taper Forum. 

Jaja's African Hair Braiding is a co-production with Arena Stage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and La Jolla Playhouse in association with Madison Wells Live and LaChanze. Tickets are available at CenterTheatreGroup.org.
 

2025/26 Season programming at the Mark Taper Forum is made possible through the generous support of the S. Mark Taper Foundation. Additional season support is provided by Perenchio Foundation. 

From the pen of Tony Award-nominated Ghanaian American playwright Jocelyn Bioh (School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, Kirk Douglas Theatre) and directed by Tony Award nominee and Obie Award winner Whitney White, Jaja's African Hair Braiding is “a play that is equally affecting as it is hilarious,” hails Entertainment Weekly.

Step into the vibrant world of Jaja's African Hair Braiding, a beloved Harlem hotspot where West African immigrant braiders work their magic on the locals' locks. Amidst the lively buzz of a scorching summer, love ignites, dreams soar, and secrets unravel. But beneath the surface of this riotous comedy lies a current of uncertainty, pushing this close-knit community to confront the challenges of being outsiders in their own neighborhood.

The cast includes Melanie Brezill (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, The Book of Mormon), Leovina Charles (Young Nala in The Lion King, La Jolla Playhouse: Lempicka), Victoire Charles (MTC Golden Age, MTC, Intiman, Geffen Playhouse: Ruined), Mia Ellis (The Amen Corner, The Mountaintop, Intimate Apparel), Tiffany Renee Johnson (Blues for an Alabama Sky,TV: Shameless), Claudia Logan (Roundabout: Exception to the Rule, TV: Harlem, Blue Bloods), Michael Oloyede (Broadway Jaja's originated James/ Franklin/Olu/Eric), Abigail C. Onwunali (NYTW: The Half-God of Rainfall, National Black Theatre: Bloodwork), Jordan Rice (Recurring Apple TV: Swagger, Film: One True Loves starring Simu Liu and Phillipa Soo), and Bisserat Tseggai (St. Ann's Warehouse, Curran Theatre: The Jungle, Soho Rep: For the Women Who Thought They Were Mad). 

The creative team includes Manna-Symone Middlebrooks (Associate Director), David Zinn (Scenic Designer), Jiyoun Chang (Lighting Designer), Justin Ellington (Sound Design & Composition), Stefania Bulbarella (Video Designer), Dede Ayite (Costume Design), Nikiya Mathis (Hair and Wig Designer), Brillian Qi-Bell (Production Stage Manager), David Caparelliotis, CSA, Kelly Gillespie, CSA, Erica Hart, CSA (Casting Directors).

CTG's Brindell & Milton Gottlieb Artistic Director Snehal Desai said, “From the moment I saw Jaja's African Hair Braiding, I knew it was a Taper show. It is jam-packed with laughter, unforgettable characters, incredible dialogue, and some of the best hair to ever grace the stage. Simply put, the play is one of the best to hit the American theatre scene in the last decade, and we are so excited to welcome Jocelyn Bioh back to CTG—after her play School Girls; Or The African Mean Girls Play appeared at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in 2018.  This year our season at CTG is focused on dreaming big and Jaja's is hilarious and heartwarming, but also a deeply human story that stayed with me long after the final bow.  It is unapologetically joyful in its celebration of family, community, and the dreams that we have. It's the theatrical event that Angelenos won't want to miss this fall.”

Jesse Green in The New York Times said, “A riotously funny workplace comedy set in pre-pandemic Harlem. A kind of Cheers or Steel Magnolias for today … a buffet of delights. Director, Whitney White, keeps the stage activated and the stories simmering at a happy bubble.” 

Charles McNulty wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “The African immigrant women who work at the shop relate to one another like family members. In other words, they shout and fight, gossip and backbite, sympathize, laugh and occasionally break out in dance moves. The customers, a mix of demanding divas and friendly drop-ins, have personalities as large as the women who make their Beyoncé hair dreams come true.” 

Emlyn Travis in Entertainment Weekly said, “There are few places in the world where one can share their innermost dreams, dish out some seriously scandalous gossip, and leave feeling more beautiful and confident than when they initially entered. ‘Jaja's African Hair Braiding — the fictional, eponymous salon – is a brilliant, emotive portrait of a seemingly simple day in the life of the sedulous West African women working at its titular Central Harlem hair braiding shop.  As their day progresses, theatergoers will uncover a powerful tale about joy, dreams, societal and familial expectations, community, politics, loss, and sisterhood.”

Aramide Tinubu wrote in Variety, “Director Whitney White exposes the full scope of Black womanhood with its joys, delights, pains and sorrows as we experience them daily.  The realism that bursts through these scenes gives Jaja's its vibrancy. [The play] 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.”

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation's preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles' leading not-for-profit theatre company, which, under the leadership of the Brindell & Milton Gottlieb Artistic Director Snehal Desai, Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman, and Producing Director Douglas C. Baker, programs the Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. Center Theatre Group is one of the country's leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics, and circumstances to serve Los Angeles. Founded in 1967, Center Theatre Group has produced more than 700 productions across its three stages, including such iconic shows as Zoot Suit; Angels in America; The Kentucky Cycle; Biloxi Blues; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; Children of a Lesser God; Curtains; The Drowsy Chaperone; 9 to 5: The Musical; and Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.

The S. Mark Taper Foundation, founded in 1989, is a private family foundation dedicated to enhancing the quality of people's lives by supporting nonprofit organizations and their work in our communities. The S. Mark Taper Foundation is committed to grantmaking that aligns with the values of diversity, equity and inclusion.