I am not a theater critic but I have been devoted to covering theater since my early 1980s reports on the explosion of Chicago storefront theaters for National Public Radio. On The Mara Tapp Show in the 1990s, I was honored to host weekly conversations about and offer scenes from some of Chicago’s best shows, and delighted when those interviews filled houses for our local theaters.
In 2015, at the request of friends, I started a series of emails with recommendations for shows I thought worthy of patrons. Some years later, actors, directors and publicity people in Chicago’s theater world prevailed on me to share these raves, a request I accepted, especially in light of the increasing tensions in the theater world and need to keep Chicago theaters healthy. Read more…
Find out what the critics think at the Review Round-up on the website of TheatreInChicago.com.
Breaking News
Tickets are now on sale for Chicago Theatre Week, the annual celebration from the League of Chicago Theatres, that offers discounted tickets to more than 100 performances across the city from February 6-16, 2025. HotTix.org will follow that with Chicago Theatre Week Continued, extending performance discounts one more week. For details on what you can see go to https://www.choosechicago.com/chicago-theatre-week/
Raves
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Chicago Shakespeare Theater through February 2
Recommended
If you’re looking for an amusing evening with some Chicago theater stars, spend 90 minutes at Jaja’s African Hair Braiding salon but beware that this is a play that will make your head hurt. Despite all the laughs and funny stories, with the return of the 45th president to White House Jaja’s African Hair Braiding couldn’t be more timely.
Set in 2019, this Broadway import chronicles a sweltering summer day in a busy Harlem hair salon. Its owner and employees are West African immigrants, save Jaja’s whip-smart daughter, played with the ideal mix of respect for the ambitions and fears of her Senegalese mother and a yearning for her own first-generation American dream, which includes going to an Ivy League college. Each of the salon’s employees shares their story, which they relate with joy, wicked humor, regret and grief. Bisserat Tseggai as Miriam, a young beauty from Sierra Leone, is particularly moving, as she tells of how she defied traditional roles and found love. Awa Sal Secka brings sass and bitterness earned from experience to the matriarchal Bea, most obvious in her battles with the younger entrepreneurial Ndidi, played with tough grace by Aisha Sougou. Victoire Charles is an elegant but realistic beauty when she makes her appearance as Jaja. It’s clear why she runs this place, and also what she’s going to do to improve her life.
The Chicago crew is stellar, well directed by Whitney White, whose interest in theater started with acting classes at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Kudos to Melanie Brezill, who has graced many of our city’s finest stages. She transforms herself from a giggly woman who wants to look like Beyonce for her birthday party to a regular patron who switches from the older braider to the hipper Ndidi. Another Chicago star, Tiffany Renee Johnson, perfectly captures Aminata, a woman full of spirit and energy who just can’t seem to dump her double-timing deadbeat husband. Yao Dogbe transforms himself in multiple roles, including that deadbeat husband, and a salesman who shows up with the best deals of many varieties, accompanied by highly entertaining narratives.
The laughs in this play by Ghanaian-American playwright Jocelyn Bioh come to an abrupt stop, which I will not spoil. To be sure, there is a is a predictability to Jaja’s African Hair Braiding but there is also warmth, a view of what West African –and, by extension other – immigrants endure, sadness, good acting and timeliness. It might be just the mix you are seeking.