![\"Interview:](\"https:\/\/cloudimages2.broadwayworld.com\/columnpiccloud\/21759604662.jpg?format=auto&width=1400\" "\\"Interview:")
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When Victoire Charles<\/a> first read Jaja\u2019s African Hair Braiding by Jocelyn Bioh<\/a>, it became the second play she had ever read in which she immediately knew she wanted to be involved. The first play which elicited the same response was Ruined by Lynn Nottage<\/a>, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2009 and included Charles in the understudy company of its Off-Broadway premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club. \u201cYou close the last page (of Ruined) and the breath is just sucked out of you,\u201d Charles surmises. When she was offered an understudy track in the Broadway production of Jaja\u2019s African Hair Braiding, she reflects that accepting the position was \u201cone of the best decisions (she) ever made\u201d. Now taking on the titular role in a production which is appearing at the Mark Taper Forum as well as Arena Stage<\/a>, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and La Jolla Playhouse, Charles reflects on the lasting pertinence of Bioh\u2019s play.<\/p>\n \u201cIn New York City,\u201d she explains, \u201cthere are not many people who don\u2019t know what an African hair braiding place is\u2014 people recognize those places. So there are many levels of connectivity, even for people who have never been inside of one.\u201d As a New Yorker raised by Haitian immigrant parents, Charles was intimately familiar with characters and settings like those presented in the play. However, it is a rare occurrence, in her experience, to see these characters centered on stage. \u201cIn terms of West African immigrants, they are not always being discussed. When we talk about immigration, it is almost always about the border.\u201d She reasons, \u201cthese are people we\u2019ve never seen on stage, so it\u2019s a real bonus for people who have been behind the scenes before and been to an African hair braiding place.\u201d<\/p>\n Charles describes Jaja\u2019s as a \u201cvery, very juicy slice of life. We aren\u2019t allowed to caricature any of these characters. We\u2019re not allowed to laugh at them. But I have never been a part of a play that enraptures an audience in such a way.\u201d She continues, \u201cPeople aren\u2019t used to a play like this. Its language and the mission it proposes is a call to action, and I think people aren\u2019t used to that.\u201d<\/p>\n Having moved to Los Angeles back in 2011, Charles is excited to be back. She assures me that she has a deep love for both NYC and LA; \u201cPeople always wanna know which city is better, but I say, they are sister and brother. They are akin.\u201d What is she looking forward to while performing at the Mark Taper Forum? \u201cSmoothies, delicious salads, a good hike, and Porto\u2019s of course!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n SPONSORED BY NORTH COAST REP<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Victoire Charles first read Jaja\u2019s African Hair Braiding by Jocelyn Bioh, it became the second play she…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":280248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,224,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-280247","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115323486230911405","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}