MACONNIA CHESSER*

(Jaja) is excited to return to SpeakEasy, having recently appeared in Ain’t No Mo’. Theatre: Shakespeare & Company (company member; Berkshire Theatre Award for Best Solo Performance for An Iliad); Ensemble Studio Theatre; Franklin Stage; Notre Dame Shakespeare; Elm Shakespeare; New Jersey Rep (company member); Hanover Theatre Repertory; Actors’ Shakespeare Project; Lyric Stage; WAM Theatre; Ancram Center for the Arts; The Kennedy Center; Theater Alliance (Insurrection: Holding History, Helen Hayes nomination); Tennessee Shakespeare; African Continuum Theatre; Totem Pole Playhouse; and Advice to the Players. Film & TV: The Shape of Destiny (Official selection, 2018 Women in Comedy Festival); Nothing but the Truth; Ghosts of Hamilton Street; HBO’s The Wire. Education: Shakespeare & Company, National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, Alcorn State University. For my mom Dorothy D. Scott Chesser, and my friend Dennis Krausnick. IG: @kurlymac. (she/her)  

Shows

JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING

May 2–31, 2025

by

Jocelyn Bioh

DIRECTED BY

SUMMER L. WILLIAMS

2024 Tony Nominee – Best Play! It’s a hot summer day in 2019, and in Harlem, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding salon is open for business, even though its eponymous owner is hours away from getting married. Presiding over the shop’s …

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Ain’t No Mo’

Jan 10 – Feb 8, 2025

by

Jordan E. Cooper

directed by

dawn m. simmons

A CO-PRODUCTION WITH FRONT PORCH ARTS COLLECTIVE 2023 Tony Nominee – Best Play! “The powers that be have reassured me there’s room for everyone” declares Miss Peaches, the drag queen flight attendant tasked with welcoming the entire Black population of …

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