Stir Cheat Sheet: 5 things you should know about A Brimful of Asha's storied history
Ravi Jain’s hit show, which streams via Surrey Civic Theatres January 15 to 31, has hilarious beginnings
Toronto theatre artist Ravi Jain hits the stage with his mom Asha.
FEATURING A REAL-LIFE mother and son, A Brimful of Asha tells the true tale of Why Not Theatre artist Ravi Jain’s experiences when his parents took him to India in 2007 to meet potential brides.
The hit show, filmed at Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre, appears via Surrey Civic Theatre’s Digital Stage from January 15 to 31, with a special post-show talk by its creator after the opening-night performance at 7 pm.
Here are 5 things to know about the critically adored two-hander and its inspiration.
Jain has said the play came about after he told friends about his parents trying to arrange a marriage for him. “I told my Mum ‘I’m going to make a show about what a terrible mother you are’ and she said, ‘You’re an idiot, because if I was on stage telling the story, people would see what a terrible son you are and they would side with me.’ So, I said, ‘OK, let’s try and do that.’” In the show they debate the rights and wrongs of the trip and arranged marriage, and it becomes a larger, comedy-fuelled look at intergenerational tensions and culture clashes, not just within immigrant communities but families at large.
Since it was written nine years ago, the show has been a runaway success, selling out in Toronto and then drawing crowds in Vancouver at the 2014 PuSh International Performing Arts Festival (in a coproduction with the Arts Club Theatre). It toured internationally in places from London to New York City. (The New York Times called it “pioneering in its intimacy and yet unapologetically heartwarming”.)
The title A Brimful of Asha comes from a 1997 song of the same name. Written by British alt-rock band Cornershop, it’s inspired by film culture in India and is a tribute to Bollywood actress Asha Bhosle, who’s done playback singing for over a thousand movies. “Asha” means “hope” in Hindi—and hope is a recurring theme in Bhosle’s songs. It’s also Jain’s mother’s first name.
In their attempt to marry Jain off, his parents advertised in Indian newspapers and filled binders with the details of 150 potential brides. In the end, at 32, Jain found his own wife without their help.
A playwright, producer, director, and actor, Jain is a theatre innovator who has a long, strong relationship with the Vancouver theatre community. Why Not Theatre’s radically inclusive Prince Hamlet took centre stage at last year’s PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, with a deaf actor tackling one of the lead roles, and sign language integrated right into the storytelling. The in-demand director also reimagined the Canadian classic Salt-Water Moon with diverse casting and a stripped-down set for Factory Theatre, with a successful run at Richmond’s Gateway Theatre in 2018.
Related Articles
