Jaja’s African Hair Braiding

JOCELYN BIOH

Playwright

Jocelyn Bioh (Playwright) is an award-winning, Tony Award-nominated Ghanaian-American writer/performer from New York City. Her written works for theater include Jaja’s African Hair Braiding (MTC) which premiered on Broadway in 2023 and was nominated for five Tony Awards including Best Play; Merry Wives (Public Theater/Shakespeare in the Park, PBS Great Performances) which won the 2022 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Adaptation; Nollywood Dreams (MCC Theater); book writer for the Broadway-bound musical Goddess (Berkeley Rep); and the multi-award-winning School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play which was originally produced at MCC Theater in 2017/2018 and has gone on to have over 65 regional productions and premiered in the UK in 2023. Jocelyn was a 2017 Tow Playwriting Fellow and has won several playwriting awards, including being awarded the Dramatists Guild’s Hull-Warriner Prize twice, Steinberg Playwright Award, Lortel Award, and Drama Desk Award. Jocelyn has also written for TV on Russian Doll, Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It (Netflix), Tiny Beautiful Things (Hulu), the new Star Wars series The Acolyte (Disney+), and she is also writing the live screen film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Once on This Island for Disney.

WHITNEY WHITE

Director

Whitney White (Director) is an Obie Award and Lilly Award-winning, as well as a Tony Award-nominated, director, writer, and musician. She was a staff writer on Boots Riley’s I’m a Virgo and is a believer of multi-disciplinary work and collaborative processes. Recent directing includes Jaja’s African Hair Braiding (Broadway), Jordans (The Public Theater), The Secret Life of Bees (The Almeida, UK), Soft (MCC, New York Times Critic’s Pick), On Sugarland (New York Theatre Workshop), What to Send Up When It Goes Down (New York Times Critic’s Pick), The Amen Corner (Shakespeare Theatre DC), An Iliad (Long Wharf), Canyon (IAMA, LA Times Critic’s Choice), Jump (PlayMakers Rep, National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere), and The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington (Steppenwolf Theatre). Original works include Semblance (NYTW), Definition (Bushwick Starr), and Macbeth in Stride (American Repertory Theater, Under the Radar Festival at The Public Theater) for which she won an Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Musical Performance. Her four-part cycle deconstructing Shakespeare’s women is currently in development with American Repertory Theater (Boston, MA) and the Royal Shakespeare Company (UK).  Whitney has developed work with Sundance, Roundabout, New York Theatre Workshop, The Vineyard, The New Group, Page 73, Playwrights Realm, Juilliard, Trinity Rep, NYU Tisch, Luna Stage, SUNY Purchase, Princeton University, Atlantic Theater Company Acting School, The Drama League, South Oxford, Jack, The Tank, New York Musical Theatre Festival, The Lark, and others. She also has been an Associate to Sam Gold (Othello, New York Theatre Workshop), Daniel Sullivan (If I Forget, Roundabout), and Anne Kauffman (Marvin’s Room, Broadway). Whitney is a part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative and is a recent recipient of the Susan Stroman Directing Award, Herb Alpert Award, and Jerome Fellowship. She is an Artistic Associate at the Roundabout and an Associate Artistic Director at Shakespeare Theatre DC. Past residencies and fellowships include Colt Coeur, The Drama League, Roundabout, and the 2050 Fellowship at the New York Theatre Workshop. MFA Acting: Brown University/Trinity Rep, BA: Northwestern University. Whitney will direct the upcoming Broadway production of The Last Five Years featuring Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren.

DAVID ZINN

Set Designer

David Zinn (Set Designer)’s recent work on Broadway includes set design for Stereophonic, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, and The Notebook; costume design for An Enemy of the People; and set and costume design for Sondheim’s last musical Here We Are (The Shed, NY). Other Broadway includes scenery for Kimberly Akimbo, Funny Girl, The Minutes, Diana, Torch Song, and The Humans; scenery and costumes for the SpongeBob Musical, Fun Home, Choir Boy, Amélie, and The Last Ship; and costumes for A Doll’s House Part 2, Other Desert Cities, The Vibrator Play, and Xanadu. He’s also designed at Playwrights Horizons, MTC, NYTW, Lincoln Center, Second Stage, The Public, A.C.T., A.R.T., Berkeley Rep, The Guthrie, The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, Seattle Rep, Santa Fe Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, National Theatre, Young Vic, The Hampstead (UK), Berlin Staatsoper, and Theater Basel. He's received Tony, Drama Desk, Hewes, and Obie awards for his work.

DEDE AYITE

Costume Designer

Dede Ayite (Costume Designer) is a Tony Award-winning costume designer. Recent: X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X at the Metropolitan Opera. Select Broadway: Jaja’s African Hair Braiding (Tony Award), Hell’s Kitchen, Appropriate, Topdog/Underdog, Slave Play. Select Off-Broadway: Merry Wives (Public), Buena Vista, Days of Wine and Roses (Atlantic). Select Regional: Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Arena Stage. Television: Netflix, Comedy Central. Awards: TDF/Kitty Leech Young Master Award, Obie, Drama Desk, Henry Hewes, Lucille Lortel, Helen Hayes, Theatre Bay Area, Audelco, Jeff awards.

JIYOUN CHANG

Lighting Designer

Jiyoun Chang (Lighting Designer) is honored to be back for a second time at Arena Stage after Ride the Cyclone. She loves to work on new stories and adaptations that connect her to communities around her and share a deep understanding of them with the audience. Her credits on Broadway are Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, Stereophonic, The Cottage, KPOP, for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, and Slave Play. Her other credits are at The Public, Roundabout, NYTW, MCC, Signature, ATC, Guggenheim, Alley Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Berkeley Rep, CalShakes, Guthrie, Old Globe, and OSF. She has been nominated numerous times for Tony, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Henry Hewes awards. She is a recipient of an Obie Award and Suzi Bass Award.

JUSTIN ELLINGTON

Original Music and Sound Design

Justin Ellington (Original Music and Sound Design), born in Alexandria, Virginia, and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, is a versatile composer and sound designer who is thrilled to make his Arena Stage debut. His impressive portfolio spans theater, film, and radio, with Broadway credits including Home, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding (Tony nomination), for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf (Tony nomination), Topdog/Underdog, Pass Over, and Clyde’s. Off-Broadway, he’s contributed to productions at New York Theatre Workshop, Lincoln Center, and The Public Theater. Justin has earned awards like the Obie, Audelco, and Henry Hewes Design, and has been recognized by ASCAP and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He is currently a Lecturer in Sound Design at the David Geffen School of Design at Yale University.

STEFANIA BULBARELLA

Video Designer

Stefania Bulbarella (Video Designer) is a projections designer from Argentina based in NY. Broadway: Jaja's African Hair Braiding (MTC). Off-Broadway: Space Dogs (MCC); Travels (Ars Nova); A Bright New Boise, The Watering Hole (Signature Theatre); Semblance (New York Theatre Workshop); amongst others. Nominations: 2024 Tony nominee for her work in Jaja's African Hair Braiding; Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominee for Outstanding Video/Projection Design for Space Dogs. Awards: HOLA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatrical Design for Vámonos!. www.stefaniabulbarella.com

NIKIYA MATHIS

Hair and Wig Designer

Nikiya Mathis (Hair and Wig Designer) is a multi-hyphenate actress and wig designer. She has originated roles in world-premiere plays including Blood Quilt at Arena Stage; Off-Broadway premieres including Tarell McCraney’s The Brother/Sister Plays, Dominique Morrisseau’s Skeleton Crew, Kirsten Greenidge’s Milk Like Sugar; and Lynn Nottage's NY revival of Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine. She currently recurs as N’Kiyah Franklin in Power Book III: Raising Kanan on Starz. Nikiya is the first wig designer to ever receive a special Tony Award – for her design of Jaja’s African Hair Braiding. She is an Obie Award winner, Drama Desk Award winner, Black Women on Broadway Award winner, and Henry Hewes Award winner. Nikiya's Broadway credits include Home, The Heart of Rock and Roll, Once Upon a One More Time, Death of a Salesman, Topdog/Underdog, and Chicken & Biscuits. Her Off-Broadway credits include the current re-envisioning of Cats: The Jellicle Ball, among others. Instagram: @our_black_tresses @nikiyamathis

MANNA-SYMONE MIDDLEBROOKS

Associate Director

Manna-Symone Middlebrooks (Associate Director)’s recent work on Broadway includes Jaja’s African Hair Braiding. She was the assistant director at Arena Stage forIndecentand Turn Me Loose. Recent directing credits include The Tempest, sandblasted, Precious Little,and The Revenger’s Tragedy at Northwestern University. Other regional associate and assistant director credits include The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington (Steppenwolf); The Amen Corner (Shakespeare Theatre Company, DC); All’s Well That Ends Well (Chicago Shakespeare); Henry IV, Part I, Amadeus(Folger Theatre); The Wolves, Skeleton Crew, Translations (Studio Theatre); and BLKS (Woolly Mammoth). Instagram: @mannasymone

YETUNDE FELIX-UKWU

Dialect and Vocal Coach

Yetunde Felix-Ukwu (Dialect and Vocal Coach) last appeared at Arena Stage in the world premiere of Tempestuous Elements. Selected acting credits include Nollywood Dreams (Round House Theatre); A Christmas Carol (TheatreSquared); Babel (Unicorn Theatre); and School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (Kansas City Repertory Theatre). As a dialect coach selected credits include an as yet untitled Ryan Coogler film (Warner Bros.), Time Bandits (Apple TV+), and Metamorphoses (Folger Shakespeare Library). More information can be found on all social media platforms @yetundelive and at www.yetundelive.com.

ERICA A. HART, CSA

New York Casting

Erica A. Hart, CSA (New York Casting) Broadway: Chicken & Biscuits, Pass Over, Death of a Salesman, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding. Television: Black Mirror (U.S. casting season six), A Black Lady Sketch Show (season four), That Damn Michael Che, Bust Down, The Girls on the Bus. Film: The Surrogate (Artios winner), Lapsis (SXSW), Cupids (Tribeca). Music video: “Fight for You” by H.E.R. Thanks Jocelyn Bioh, Whitney White, Kelly Gillespie, David Caparelliotis, and the Jaja’s African Hair Braiding family!

KELLY GILLESPIE, CSA

New York Casting

Kelly Gillespie, CSA (New York Casting) has been on the casting staff at Manhattan Theatre Club for 17 seasons. Favorite MTC projects include Prayer for French Republic (Broadway and Off-Broadway), Mary Jane, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, The Best We Could, Skeleton Crew, Ink, Choir Boy, and The Explorers Club. Other credits include Bite Me, Sancocho, Our Dear Dead Drug Lord, What We’re Up Against, Sundown Yellow Moon, Ironbound (WP Theater); Melancholy Play, A Map of Virtue, The Zero Hour, Monstrosity (13P); Good Person of Szechwan (Foundry and Public Theater); Photograph 51 (Ensemble Studio Theatre); Exclusion, POTUS (Arena Stage); Age of Innocence, Trouble in Mind (The Old Globe); Two Sisters and a Piano (Two River Theater); and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Angels in America, Residence, Seven Guitars, 4000 Miles, Dot, The Roommate, and Eat Your Heart Out (Actors Theatre of Louisville). Gillespie also was resident casting director for several seasons for the Off-Broadway companies TACT and Keen Company. She holds a BA from the University of Michigan.

DAVID CAPARELLIOTIS, CSA

New York Casting

David Caparelliotis, CSA (New York Casting) Select Broadway/Off-Broadway: Mary Jane; Prayer for the French Republic; Jaja’s African Hair Braiding; 2:22 A Ghost Story; Grey House; Summer, 1976; The Comeuppance; Ohio State Murders; Cost of Living; Macbeth; The Minutes; Skeleton Crew; Ink; Letters From Max; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; The Waverly Gallery; Boys in the Band. Select theatres: Signature NYC, Atlantic, Ars Nova, The Old Globe, CTG. TV/Film: New Amsterdam (NBC, series casting), The Boys in the Band (Netflix, original casting).

MANDISA REED

Stage Manager

Mandisa Reed (Stage Manager), a Saginaw, Michigan native, is a proud graduate of Dillard University in New Orleans (BA) and the University of California San Diego (MFA). Broadway credits include Lackawanna Blues (MTC), Skeleton Crew (MTC), Topdog/Underdog (Golden Theatre), Home (Roundabout Theatre Company), Kimberly Akimbo (Booth Theatre), and Sweeney Todd (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre). Mandisa is honored to return to Arena Stage after kicking off the Jitney Broadway National Tour here in 2019! For mum and granny, the women who taught me how to braid.

JAMIE BERRY

Assistant Stage Manager

Jamie Berry (Assistant Stage Manager) is overjoyed to join the Arena Stage staff as Assistant Stage Manager for Jaja’s! She prides Herself on ensuring spaces are safe, equitable, and joy-filled for casts and crew. Her most recent/select work includes the First National Tour of Back to the Future (Sub SM), Dreamgirls (PSM, McCarter Theatre 2024 and Goodspeed Opera House 2023), and the five-time 2024 Helen Hayes Award recipient, Fela! (PSM, Olney Theatre Center/Round House Theatre). She has worked with artEquity, trained with Equity & Justice for Institutional Change (EJIC), and also worked with EJIC as a facilitator. Instagram: @jamiedreamsbig 

BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE

Berkeley Repertory Theatre has grown from a storefront stage to an international leader in innovative theatre. Known for its ambition, relevance, and excellence, as well as its adventurous audience, the nonprofit has provided a welcoming home for emerging and established artists since 1968. Over 6 million people have enjoyed more than 500 shows at Berkeley Rep, including 85 world premieres. Berkeley Rep shows have gone on to win eight Tony Awards, nine Obie Awards, 11 Drama Desk Awards, a Grammy Award, a Pulitzer Prize, and many other honors. In recognition of its place on the national stage, Berkeley Rep received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1997. Through its annual seven-play season, together with up to four special event presentations, Berkeley Rep invites audiences to enjoy an eclectic range of theatrical experiences featuring diverse artistic voices, themes, and perspectives. Berkeley Rep’s bustling facilities—which include the 600-seat Roda Theatre, 400-seat Peet’s Theatre, Medak Center, and a spacious campus in West Berkeley—are helping revitalize a renowned city.

CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER

Chicago Shakespeare Theater, a Regional Tony Award recipient, produces a bold and innovative year-round season that includes Shakespeare, original plays, musicals, family programming, and international theatrical events. CST is committed to serving as a cultural center across its three stages—the 700+ seat Yard, 500 seat Jentes Family Courtyard Theater, and the 200 seat Carl and Marilynn Thoma Theater Upstairs as well as in classrooms, neighborhoods, and venues around the world. CST has a deep commitment to education and lifelong learning with robust programming for students, teachers, and lifelong learners, and engagement with communities across the city. Onstage, in classrooms and neighborhoods across the city, and in venues around the world, Chicago Shakespeare is a multifaceted theater—inviting audiences, artists, and community members to share powerful stories that illuminate the complexities, ambiguities, and wonders of our world. www.chicagoshakes.com

MADISON WELLS LIVE

Madison Wells Live is the live entertainment arm of Madison Wells, Gigi Pritzker’s award-winning, independent production company who believes in telling stories by, and about, badass women, as well as people who love pushing boundaries. Led by Executive Producer Jamie Forshaw, Madison Wells Live focuses on producing purpose-driven projects through collaboration with partners who are aligned in the belief that great storytelling can provoke, inspire, and move audiences around the world. Broadway credits include Water for Elephants (Tony nomination), Jaja’s African Hair Braiding (Tony nomination), Shucked (Tony nomination), Company (Tony Award for Best Revival), The Old Man and The Pool, Pass Over, Hadestown (Tony Award for Best Musical), The Inheritance (Tony Award for Best Play), Million Dollar Quartet (Tony nomination), and the forthcoming Swept Away. West End: Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder!, The Motive and the Cue,and The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Laurence Olivier nomination). Off-Broadway: We Live in Cairo, Seven Deadly Sins (Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience). For more information about Madison Wells Live, visit www.madisonwellsmedia.com

LaCHANZE

LaChanze Broadway: Celie in The Color Purple (Tony Award), Ti Moune in Once on This Island (Tony Award nomination), Trouble in Mind (Tony Award nomination), Summer: The Donna Summer Musical (Tony Award nomination), A Christmas Carol, If/Then, The Wiz, Company, Ragtime,and Dreamgirls. Off Broadway: The Secret Life of Bees, The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, The Vagina Monologues,and Cabin in the Sky at New York City Center Encores!. TV: Handel’s Messiah Rocks: A Joyful Noise (Emmy Award), East New York, The Blacklist, HBO’s The Night Of, Law & Order: SVU, The Good Fight, Sex and the City. Film: The Help, Melinda, and Disney’s Hercules,among other titles. As Director: Alice Childress’ Wine in the Wilderness at Classic Stage Company next season. As Producer: The Outsiders adapted from S.E. Hinton’s classic novel (Tony Award), Jaja’s African Hair Braiding by Jocelyn Bioh (Tony Award nomination), Here Lies Love by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, 20th Anniversary of Suzan-Lori Parks’ acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning play Topdog/Underdog (Tony Award), and Jeanine Tesori and David Lindsay-Abaire’s musical Kimberly Akimbo (Tony Award), co-produced with David Stone. President of Black Theatre United, a community dedicated to awareness, accountability, and advocacy. Proud mother to Celia Rose and Zaya LaChanze. She resides in Westchester, New York with her three cats and gardening hats.