Part of #PeckhamFringe24, Joy Adeogun’s Hair That Defies Gravity emerges as a bit of a rough diamond at Theatre Peckham
“Why is my natural hair never the first option?”
Much as Inua Ellams did in Barber Shop Chronicles, Joy Adeogun’s new play Hair That Defies Gravity explores the notion of the hairdresser’s as much sanctuary as salon. It takes place over a day at the Golden Ori Hair Salon where Ifeya rules with her detangling brush as friends and family mingle with paying punters new and old. Braids are woven and wigs are fixed but so much more shared besides, hopes and fears of love and life and dreams and identity.
At just an hour long, it manages to pack worlds of emotion around its convincingly drawn characters, drawing us fully into the back and forth of their banter (Emefa Owusu-Cole’s Ama an absolute badass here), hooking us into wanting know more about their stories. And because of the magical qualities of Ifeya’s chair – something hinted at by the near-ritualistic qualities of Temitope Idowu’s movement direction – each of these Black women get their turn to share.
From experiences of life in care to the fear of little grey hairs creeping in, from deciding whether to come out as queer to one’s traditionally-minded family to wanting to know about the parents who aren’t in one’s life, these women – as so many do – are going through it today. Ozioma Ihesiene’s production allows us in their interior world too – we discover as much in conversation as we do in spotlighted confessional, these moments of direct address strengthening our bond with the characters.
There’s an easy chemistry between them all that is hard to resist. Theresa Albano’s Ifeya and Adeogun as her daughter Abidemi lie at the heart of the story, their fractiously affectionate familial relationship speaking with so much truth (particularly Abidemi feeling that maternal warmth being directed at everyone but her). Ella Ashton-Shaw’s Shade draws us right in with her journey of discovery and Owusu-Cole delivers Ama’s volte-face with extraordinary power.
It’s a real skill to be able to deliver so fully-fleshed-out a world in an hour, still more to leave us wanting more but not needing it, so satisfying is this slice of life drama. I hope it isn’t the last we hear of this rough diamond, or of Adeogun’s writing.
