In her last three plays, Jocelyn Bioh has established clear dramatic interests: she wants to tell stories about African people doing relatively normal things, stories that are relatively rare in our theatrical landscape because they center on people of color but not trauma.  These tend to focus on artists and performers: School Girls; or the African Mean Girls Play is about the 1986 Miss Ghana Contest, Nollywood Dreams about the Nigerian film industry.  Her latest, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, is about a hair braiding shop in Harlem.  Though Bioh does not emphasize politics, she does not shy away from them, either.  Racism and, in particular, colorism are present in her work, simply not dominant.  I can’t remember a single white character in any of them.  The result has been a run of terrific comedies.

Jaja’s is a kind of diorama, and when the play begins, a pulled-off-the-street facade rotates to reveal an extraordinary maximalist set.  It is packed with stuff, with photographs and hair care products and vanity mirror lights.  Key colors include purples, pinks, yellows and oranges.  Every inch of the stage is filled, and as time passes, the customers’ wigs are swapped with effective discretion (I never caught one).

It is “a very hot day” in July 2019, an echo, perhaps, of Do the Right Thing, released thirty years prior, in July 1989.  Like Spike Lee’s movie, the action unfolds over a single day.  When Jennifer (Rachel Christopher), a Black American who isn’t from the neighborhood, asks for micros, the audience groaned.  We’re in this for the long haul.

The eponymous Jaja (Somi Kakoma) is getting married (to a white man, no less) and does not appear until late in her own play.  Her marriage will also get her papers.  Jaja’s daughter, Marie (Dominique Thorne), takes care of the business in the meantime.  Bea (Zenzi Williams), the oldest present, holds court and talks about opening her own shop.  Miriam (Brittany Adebumola) is a romantic, while Aminata (Nana Mensah) is there to hang out as much as work (and perhaps to avoid her husband).  Ndidi (Maechi Aharanwa), a former Nollywood actor, is the hotshot young gun.  Marie, the most grounded one, dreams of being a writer.

The maximalism does not end there.  The shop is pan-African, and in addition to Nigeria, the employees come from Senegal, Ghana, and Sierra Leone.  They face a parade of outlandish customers, and the highlight is a loud, obnoxious businesswoman (Lakisha May) who shouts into her phone until she sits down in her chair and passes out.  Sometimes, the unpleasant are just cranky from exhaustion.  There is also the ubiquitous sock/jewelry/DVD salesman (a versatile Michael Oloyede).

By the time it’s over, Jennifer says, “I feel like I moved in for the day.”  This was my feeling as well—a day well spent.

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding runs through November 5th at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.  254 W. 54th Street  New York, NY.  1 hour 30 minutes.  No intermission. Photograph by Matthew Murphy.