The story is basically a tightly packed comedy featuring a crew of 5 women with West African heritage who are tossed together in a business created by Jaja (who is not present through the majority of the play). A series of costumers and local neighborhood folk pop in and pop out while the comedy and drama unfolds. Toward the end, the diva entrepreneur makes a cameo to be feted by her daughter (who runs the place) and colleagues on the day of her wedding. While all of the women have different relationships with immigration and their status, Jaja is tired of waiting for the process to turn in her favor and so she's jumping the line by marrying a citizen--a white man with a dubious reputation. All the levity of the day and all the petty bickering collapses when new comes to the shop at closing that Jaja has been detained by ICE. It is a profound moment of realization; how dreaming in the land of opportunity is a precarious, ephemeral thing for some among us.
None of the original Broadway cast remain with this production. The new lineup; however, does include a local actor in a key role. I've watched Awa Sal Secka for years and enjoyed her performances and her vocal talents wherever I've encountered them--but this? This was big time amazing. Arguably, her character of Bea is the lynch pin to both the comedy and the drama at the center of the production. She was simply magnificent. The entire cast was amazing--no week links in the bunch, and certainly Jordan Rice, who played, Marie, Jaja's precocious and brilliant daughter who graduated Valedictorian from high school, but now without documentation and financial means cannot afford to go to college. In an odd not to the lesser also included's, a huge shout out to Melanie Brezill, Yao Dogbe, and Colby N. Muhammad, who combined play 10 different characters! With the support of costume and make-up to wrap their talents, each of these characters felt like they were played by their own unique actor.
The set was beautiful and opened from within itself to transform from the exterior to the interior of the shop. The costumes were colorful, vibrant and exciting, just like the actors who were wearing them. An excellent play with more laughter than tears, but the point it makes about the human condition, the unfairness of our political machinations, and the resilience that allows us to thrive anyways.
Bea (Awa Sal Secka), Marie (Jordan Rice) and Aminata (Tiffany Renee Johnson)
L-R [BACK]: Colby N. Muhammad, (Aisha Sougou - obscured), Bisserat Tseggai, Jordan Rice, and Mia Ellis
[Front]: Awa Sal Secka, Melanie Brezill, Victoria Charles, and Tiffany Renee Johnson
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