The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2026 - Issue 39

bitetheatre and chuckle. Chrissy (Dani Moseley), Ndidi’s picky, conceited customer, arrives, commanding that her hair look “exactly like Beyoncé”. Cue the audience chuckles and eye-rolls. As Franklin leaves after his sale to Jennifer, Vanessa (Renee Bai- ley), a nightmare customer, enters, armed with her own combs, oils, and complaints, only to fall asleep snoring the moment her hair is touched. The whole audience erupts into raucous laughter. Once Chrissy’s hair is done, she asks for a business card so she can recommend Ndidi to a friend, but Bea cuts in and hands over her own. In one swift, sour move, she blatantly poaches Chrissy by claiming she can undercut Ndidi’s price. A new customer, Michelle (Dani Moseley), enters but freezes at the sight of Bea, her former regular stylist. She pretends she’s in the wrong salon, calling Ndidi to ‘confirm’ her appointment. Bea erupts, convinced Ndidi has stolen yet another client. “Listen, Bea, you just haven’t done as good a job lately, and I just, you know, wanted to try someone new.” Bea’s meltdown is operatic: she tries to shove Michelle out, rants about never re- turning to street-duty hustling, and finally storms out. Michelle trembles so dramatically it becomes slapstick, and Marie gently guides her to Ndidi’s chair. Scene three opens to the shop settling into a rare hush. Mir- iam is still working through Jennifer’s endless micro braids, Vanessa snores softly in her chair, and Ndidi has stepped out for a cigarette. With Aminata missing, the quiet gives Miriam and Jennifer room to breathe. Jennifer admits she wants to be a journalist who tells stories that matter; Miriam, moved by the moment’s gentleness, lets her own story spill out. She met Jaja at a community centre after coming to America to earn enough to bring her daughter over. As she speaks, her usual steel melts, her voice trembles, her eyes shining as she recalls leaving her child behind. She tells Jennifer about the long struggle to conceive, the sud- den pregnancy, and the suspicion it sparked in her husband. She remembers running into Musa, the schoolmate‑turned‑fa- mous‑singer who made her feel alive again, loud again. Their