Jaja's African Hair Braiding at Mark Taper Forum

Jaja's African Hair Braiding

Mark Taper Forum
135 North Grand Ave. Los Angeles

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.

Thru - Nov 9, 2025

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Thu, Oct 16: 7:30pm

Fri, Oct 17: 8:00pm

Sat, Oct 18: 2:00pm & 8:00pm

Sun, Oct 19: 1:00pm & 7:00pm

Tue, Oct 21: 7:30pm

Wed, Oct 22: 7:30pm

Thu, Oct 23: 7:30pm

Fri, Oct 24: 8:00pm

Sat, Oct 25: 2:00pm & 8:00pm

Sun, Oct 26: 1:00pm & 7:00pm

Tue, Oct 28: 7:30pm

Wed, Oct 29: 7:30pm

Thu, Oct 30: 7:30pm

Fri, Oct 31: 8:00pm

Sat, Nov 1: 2:00pm & 8:00pm

Sun, Nov 2: 1:00pm & 7:00pm

Tue, Nov 4: 7:30pm

Wed, Nov 5: 7:30pm

Thu, Nov 6: 7:30pm

Fri, Nov 7: 8:00pm

Sat, Nov 8: 2:00pm & 8:00pm

Sun, Nov 9: 1:00pm & 7:00pm

Show Type: Comedy

Box Office: 213-628-2772

www.centertheatregroup.org

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Mark Taper Forum Seating Chart

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Jaja's African Hair Braiding Reviews

Average Rating based on 8 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Los Angeles Times - Highly Recommended

"...The Harlem hair salon at the center of "Jaja's African Hair Braiding," Jocelyn Bioh's exuberant workplace comedy, is bursting with gossip, petty fights, audacious fashion, dazzling hair styles, full-body dancing and uncensored truth about the vulnerable lives of immigrant workers."

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- Charles McNulty

Stage Scene LA - Highly Recommended

"...The double-Tony-winning Broadway hit Jaja’s African Hair Braiding has arrived at the Mark Taper Forum, the nationally touring production treating L.A. audiences to Jocelyn Bioh’s potent mix of hilarity, humanity, and heart."

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- Steven Stanley

LA Theatrix - Highly Recommended

"...The power of a play with a single setting is the sense of urgency and dramatic tension it gives the action on stage, as if the characters are trapped in one location and can't escape. As a result, the "plot" ends up being not so much about what happens as about illuminating the relationships among characters, and how that speaks to the human condition. Such plays can also provide a window into a world that theatregoers don't usually experience in their daily lives, and one not often showcased onstage."

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- Mayank Keshaviah

Stage Raw - Highly Recommended

"...Bioh, who is herself American Ghanian, approaches her material from an intensely personal perspective. Set in a Harlem hair-braiding salon in 2019, the play unfolds against the backdrop of Trump-era ICE raids - crackdowns that left many immigrant communities living in daily fear. (Of course, the first months of the current Trump administration have seen those raids amped up to flagrantly unlawful levels, with the undocumented and American citizens alike snatched off the streets without habeas corpus or legal representation.)"

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- F. Kathleen Foley

Ticket Holders LA - Highly Recommended

"...Shout out to Whitney White for the incredible direction of this important story. She makes daring choices from the very beginning, including having the players deliver lines directly out to the audience, thus breaking the fourth wall."

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- Travis Michael Holder

Larchmont Buzz - Highly Recommended

"...The Jaja of Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, a Harlem beauty shop, does not make an appearance until well into the show that bears her name. But Jaja’s presence permeates the proceedings. Her business serves the local community, and has created its own community of African immigrants from Sierra Leone, Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria, who make a living styling and braiding hair. They bond and bicker, efficiently managed by Jaja’s college-age daughter Marie (Jordan Rice)."

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- Laura Foti Cohen

The Hollywood Times - Highly Recommended

"...This production of Jaja’s African Hair Braiding is more than just a workplace comedy. It’s a powerful and humorous look at West African immigrant women discovering dignity and freedom through their work. The play highlights the intersection of truth and laughter in the daily challenges faced by immigrant women, who weave beauty into survival through their craft."

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- John Lavitt

Broadway World - Highly Recommended

"...Under the direction of Whitney White (who has helmed every previous major staging of JAJA'S from the Manhattan Theatre Club to this five-stop co-pro), the Taper's production is as funny and satisfying as it is timely. We spend 90 wonderful minutes as welcome captives of these fabulous ladies, seeing them gossip and snipe at each other, but rarely complaining to their customers as they work their artistic magic into their scalps."

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- Evan Henerson

Jaja's African Hair Braiding at Mark Taper Forum