Jaja's African Hair Braiding Experience & Review

There will be spoilers if you have not seen the show.

Me, program posing my tickets at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater for "Jaja's African Hair Braiding." A play exploring the rich cultural artistry of hair braiding and making a way in America.

It was black , it was deep, and it was an awesome way to jump off Black History Month.

It all started with a desire to go, through a curiosity driven instagram advertisement. I would like to call myself a theatre girly, but truth is I only attend about four shows a year since moving to the Chicagoland area four years ago.

I really enjoy the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre in general because of it's intimate seating and proximity to Navy Pier eateries. So the location was great, the concept was interesting, and then the deal breaker was the deal I got on the tickets!

The theatre was advertising a deal called $30 under 30 which advocated for young professionals and students to get affordable tickets to broadway level productions, and that was all I needed to book my adventure to Jaja's.

I brought a friend who hasn't seen a play in years, also black, also an experienced box braider getter.

As we walked through the intended attempt of an immersive experience, we saw raw braiding hair sprawled on side tables with info cards encouraging guest to braid it. Manicans with different braided wig designs were showcased in viewing galleries outside of the main theatre. What impressed me was the braided designs canvassing the walls as we walked into the theatre.

There was a promotional banner with the Jaja's show logo open and available for guest photo opportunities and the lighting was MAGNIFICENT (I could tell a black person was consulted in that setup). I really liked this one installation of four heads with braided crown styles, one had words weaved into it. They surrounded a throne chair. It was the last thing I saw before entering the theatre.

We went on Wednesday, January 29th to the 7pmCT show. And sat behind a group of supposed 'friends' a mixture of white millennials with one overweight black guy. They stank of marijuana and cat piss and the strength of the odor was strong. I asked the usher within five minutes of the show starting, if there were any available seats, could we move? She didn't ask for an explanation, she told me she already understood. Then offered us open center balcony seats, which we moved to immediately.

Now, is what you were reading for - the review.

It started off simply.

The set was a garage door, similar to a bodega in the hood. Jordan Rice, who played the main character Marie, @actressjordanrice, was giving serious more than frustrated as she began explaining her commute to a colleague and opened up her mama, Jaja's, spot. But the woman that stole the show both in performance and relevance in my opinion was by far Awa Sal Secka, Bea. The auntie we love to hate, the older, more grumpier, ancestor that gives her unwanted opinions and can't take constructive criticism. Yet, always comes through in the end as a pillar in community. The one you stay with when or if something happens to your parents... I feel like I could truly place this multi-functioning character as a tribe of different women in my life. She reeked of both privilege and regret. Bea was clearly working in another women's shop and not the best braider by far, yet she demanded that her opinions be heard and unprofitable respect.

The scene that touched me most was a more subtle encounter with Marie and a shop visiter she knew, her classmate, coming to make an appointment and consistently asking Marie about her future. As an audience member already realizing this child was what the Trump administration would deem an illegal alien, brought to America with no legal citizenship papers using her 'cousins' name for certain documented purposes - it really brought to light the agony of knowing the answer to questions you just can't answer due to your circumstance.

I felt both the annoyance and the gloom of being brilliant academically but not legally able to further your education practically.

Don't get me wrong, This was a funny, relatable, story of coexistence. A black diaspera of personalities, enjoying or tolerating each others company due to the unifying economic power of hair styling, but it kept hitting you over the head with the immigrant experience. And it's not a fun experience. It's constant uncertainty. It's forced or chosen family separation leaving a deep yearning place for friends to attempt to fill. It's doing what you feel like you need to do to economically survive, and then worrying physically about your placement in the world and your future based on what life in America will afford you.

There was enough comedy to keep you from not being overwhelmed with the main characters situation, but honestly in real life that week in Chicago there were immigration raids in mainly latino communities, so the ending hit differently when it was communicated that Marie's mother Jaja was caught up in an immigration enforcement raid for a 'sham marriage'.

Yea, I warned there would be spoilers in the beginning.

The romantic love stories were more of an additional topic and the communal sisterly love was the focus. The characters personal romantic love lives were explained in and out of the script but they definitely didn't dominate the messaging, which I appreciated. I would watch it again. I'm happy there was no intermission. It was an enjoyable experience.