Bioh’s play highlights the dignity of hardscrabble labour and addresses the stories, specifically the female ones, behind the anti-immigrant rhetoric of the American right. Indeed, the author spells this out in a late and contrived speech by Jaja, asking if the authorities want African migrant women to “go home” before or after they have raised their employers’ children, cleaned their houses, or done their hair. The ending is telegraphed and melodramatic. For all its flaws though, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding vividly sketches in unseen lives. I can think of many worse ways to spend 90 minutes than in the company of these funny, feisty women.
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding review: Vividly sketches in unseen lives
