"To succeed in life you need three things-
a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone."
-Reba McEntire
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Jaja's African Hair Braiding
Written by Jocelyn Bioh
Directed by Donna Bradby
November 8-24, 2024
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8 p.m.
Sundays at 2 p.m.
Performances will be held at
The Arts Factory at West End Studios
1545 West Trade Street, Charlotte, NC, USA
Flex Passes and Single Tickets Available Now!
NOMINEE- 2024 Tony Award for Best Play
NOMINEE- 2024 Drama League Outstanding Production of a Play
NOMINEE- 2024 Outer Critics Circle Outstanding New Play
New York Times Critics’ Pick
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding in Harlem is a salon full of funny, whip-smart, talented women ready to make you look and feel “nice nice.” On this particularly muggy summer day, Jaja’s rule-following daughter Marie is running the shop while her mother prepares for her courthouse, green card wedding—to a man no one seems to particularly like. Just like her mother, DREAMer Marie is trying to secure her future; high school graduation is around the corner and all she wants to do is go to college. While Marie deals with the customers' and stylists' laugh-out-loud drama, news pierces the hearts of the women of the salon, galvanizing their connections and strengthening the community they have longed to make in the United States.
Jaja's African Hair Braiding contains some adult language and content. Recommended for ages 14+.
What People Are Saying
Praise from previous productions
The New York Times
*Critic's Pick*
"Hot and hilarious…a riotously funny workplace comedy."
Entertainment Weekly
“Bioh breathes both joy and grief into these women within her stellar script, giving them each their own distinct personalities and lived-in experiences…The result is a play that is equally as affecting as it is hilarious.”
Washington Post
“Wickedly entertaining…a sparkling ensemble comedy as tautly woven as one of the intricate hairdos in Jaja’s Harlem salon.”
Get Tickets
Advance Purchase Online: $30 inclusive of all taxes and fees
Night of Show at the Door: $35 inclusive of all taxes and fees
Students and Educators: $15 inclusive of all taxes and fees
Discounted pricing available for groups of 10 or more, contact us at info@threebonetheatre.com to learn more
Meet the Artists
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Jocelyn Bioh
Playwright
Jocelyn Bioh is an award winning Ghanaian-American writer/performer from New York City. Her written works for theatre include: Merry Wives (Public Theater/Shakespeare in the Park, PBS Great Performances), Nollywood Dreams (MCC Theater), Goddess the musical which will have its world premiere at Berkeley Rep in 2022 and the multi award winning School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play which was originally produced at MCC Theater in 2017/2018 and has gone on to have over 50 regional productions. She is a former TOW playwriting fellow (2017) and has been commissioned by MTC, Atlantic Theater Co., Williamstown Theatre Festival and Second Stage. Jocelyn has also written for TV on “Russian Doll”, Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have It”, the upcoming Hulu series “Tiny Beautiful Things” and is also writing the live screen adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Once On This Island for Disney+. She was 2023's recipient of the Outstanding Adaptation Drama Desk Award.
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Donna Bradby
Director
Donna Bradby is an Adjunct Professor and Director of Marketing and
Publicity for the Theatre Arts Program at North Carolina A&T State
University (NC A&T), the largest Historically Black College and University in
the country. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Professional Theatre
Performance from NC A&T and a Master of Fine Arts in Arts Management
from Virginia Tech. She has also taught at Bennett College, Virginia Tech,
Western Connecticut State University, and Elon University. She has
directed The America Play, Ethel Waters: His Eye Is on the Sparrow, From
the Mississippi Delta, The Old Settler, The Color Purple, This One Girl’s
Story, Breath, Boom, and A Raisin in the Sun to name a few. Most recently,
she directed Ernest and the Pale Moon, Fairview, and The Crucible at
Western Connecticut State University. Other productions include Mad at
Miles: A Black Woman’s Guide to Truth in Triad Stage’s Upstage Cabaret,
at The National Black Theatre Festival, and in Atlanta at Seven Stages and
Spelman College.
Donna is the proud mother of Adam Bradby and grandmother to Arris and
Raava, the loves of her life.
Supporting Documents
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Digital Program
Download the full program to learn more about the artistic team and our community partner.
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Discussion Guide
Keep the conversation going with our show-specific discussion guide developed by our Education Manager.