‘The Acolyte’ Writer Jocelyn Bioh Wins 2024 Horton Foote Prize for Play, ‘Jaja’s African Hair Braiding’

Jocelyn Bioh, who has written for “The Acolyte” and “Tiny Beautiful Things” and will be featured on Variety’s “2024 10 Screenwriters to Watch” List, has won the 2024 Horton Foote Prize for her play “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding.”

Executive director Valerie Brea Ross and founder and prize board chair Mari Marchbanks announced the news Wednesday.

More from Variety

• 'Jaja's African Hair Braiding's' Jocelyn Bioh on Breaking Barriers for Black Woman Playwrights: 'It's for Every Single Black Woman Who Has Put Pen to Paper'

• 'Jaja's African Hair Braiding' Review: Broadway Production Celebrates a Sacred Space for Black Women

• Idris Elba Boards U.K. Production of 'School Girls' as Associate Producer (EXCLUSIVE)

Bioh will be presented the prize by the play’s director, Whitney White, on Oct. 7 at New York’s Lotos Club. The award includes a $50,000 prize as well as a limited edition of Keith Carter’s iconic photograph of Horton Foote. This item is found in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C..

Williamstown Theatre Festival commissioned “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” which had its Broadway premiere in October 2023 and earned five Tony nominations, including Best Play.

“Ms. Bioh’s dazzling play is set in a bustling hair braiding shop in Harlem where we meet a lively and eclectic group of West African hair braiders as they transform their neighborhood clients. On a hot summer day they laugh, fight, and share their dreams about the future. The uncertainty of their circumstances simmer below the surface of their lives and when it boils over, it forces this tight-knit community to confront what it means to be an outsider on the edge of the place they call home,” reads an official statement.

The play was nominated for the award by the Manhattan Theatre Club.

Regarding Ms. Bioh’s play, Judge Chair Kathleen Chalfant commented: “This play is a perfect example of how the more specific a work of art, the more universal its reach. Jaja takes us into its very particular world and seduces all of us with its beauty and humor and great heart and dares at the end to tell the truth about this difficult place we live.”

Judge Michael Urie continued, “A joyful ride and so funny…Fabulous characters, setting, and action, with a stunning and powerful final turn.”

Best of Variety

• New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 

• Labor Day Is Over But These Deals Are Still Better Than Ever: Dyson, Nespresso, Le Creuset and More

• What's Coming to Netflix in September 2024

Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.