Jaja’s African Hair Braiding – Lyric Hammersmith
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding follows a (seemingly) average working day in the titular salon in Harlem, New York City. The play provides a beautiful glimpse into the lives of the immigrant women who work there. The play takes a journey through workplace politics, gossip, relationship drama, and so on in a manner that is both poignant and utterly hilarious.
The Tony-nominated script by Jocelyn Bioh is excellent. Bioh strikes the perfect balance between a largely naturalistic approach to both structure and dialogue, while heightening elements of the plot and the characterisation just enough to also make for compelling drama and hilarious gags. The dialogue is fantastic. The characters bounce off each other in a way that feels lively and realistic while remaining easy to follow. A lot of co...