Jaja’s African Hair Braiding: Direct from Broadway to La Jolla Playhouse

By Cesar A Reyes

A Chat with Victoire Charles

Direct from Broadway, this dazzling production welcomes you into Jaja’s bustling shop in Harlem, where a lively and eclectic group of West African hair braiders create masterpieces on the heads of neighborhood women. During one sweltering summer day, love will blossom, dreams will flourish, and friendships will be tested. When their uncertain circumstances boil over, this tight-knit group must confront what it means to be outsiders in the place they call home. The New York Times raved that Jaja’s is “full of treasurable moments, when the drama feels tightly woven with the comedy.” Featuring humor as entertaining as its characters, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding celebrates courage, community and the indomitable spirit of women. 

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding was nominated for five Tony Awards in 2023, including Best Play and Best Direction of a Play, and won for Best Costume Design of a Play, plus a special award for Nikiya Mathis’s Hair and Wig design. In addition, the production was nominated for three 2023 Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Play, Outstanding Wig & Hair, and Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play. We had the pleasure of catching up with Victoire Charles who gives life to Jaja, to talk about the show and its importance.

Please introduce yourself, and tell us a bit about you?

My name is Victoire Charles. I’m a native New Yorker who has been living in Los Angeles for the last 13 years. I play Jaja, who is not only Marie’s mother and the shop owner but also a guiding force for all the braiders she has hired. She has great dreams for herself and Marie and her shop is the setting wherein we watch everyone’s dreams course, grow, and evolve.

Can you tell our readers a bout Jaja’s African Hair Braiding?

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding is a vibrant and poignant play set in a Harlem braid shop. Written with unyielding hilarity and deeply profound emotion from the genius pen of Jocelyn Bioh. The play centers on the women who work at Jaja’s, not just their incredible artistry in braiding hair, but the special bonds they form, expressions of deep yearnings, and the clients and community who depend on them.

The importance of a show like Jaja’s?

Though the play is set in 2019 and was written during that time, its messages and themes feel incredibly urgent today, leaping off the page and speaking directly to our present moment in America. 

What is your favorite part of the show?

While I have so many favorite moments in the show, as an actor, my entrance onto the stage is truly unforgettable. It’s so extravagant and celebratory…enhanced by stunning hair and costume designs that have won Tony Awards (just sayin!!!)…. Flawless direction by Whitney White, the bedazzling lights, infectious Afrobeats…It’s a moment that’s hard to match in any other role I’ve played.

From Broadway to San Diego, how are you feeling on the shows journey to present at La Jolla Playhouse?

From the moment Jaja’s started previews in September 2023 on Broadway, it was met with an electric incredible response. Being able to witness the continued outpour of love and enthusiasm from the audiences across the country is deeply affirming. It’s a testament to Jocelyn’s masterful storytelling. The audience is most fittingly a necessary character in her play, a mirror if you will.  I look forward to seeing what La Jolla will reflect back at us.

Give our readers, your social media so they can follow you:

You can follow me on instagram @victoryc

The WORD is FAMILY. The kind you’re born into and the other beautiful folks you pick up along the way.