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::THEATRE NEWS::
LE Newsletter - February 2, 2012
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A Brimful of Asha: Review
Source:
www.thestar.com - By Robert Crew
A Brimful of Asha
By Asha and Ravi Jain. Directed by Ravi Jain. Until Feb. 19 at
Tarragon Extra Space, 30 Bridgman Ave. 416-531-1827
(Jan 28, 2012) You know that warning about never acting with
animals
 and
children? Well, perhaps we should put mothers on the list as
well.
In
A Brimful of Asha,
a Why Not Theatre production now at Tarragon Extra Space, Ravi
Jain tells an autobiographical story of a clash of cultures; his
parents want to arrange a marriage for him with a nice Indian
girl while he wants to get on with a career in theatre.
But while Jain’s choice of subject matter is not particularly
new or unusual, his casting is. Instead of an actress playing
the role of his mother, he has his own mother, Asha, onstage
with him. She has never acted before.
It could be a disaster, of course, but it’s the very opposite.
Asha is simply wonderful as herself: a clever, subtle woman with
an impish sense of humour and a smile that lights up the whole
theatre.
Basically what happens is this. It’s 2007 and Ravi has just
completed his theatre training. Now he wants to postpone
marriage for two years to set up his own theatre company. “What
a proud profession for an Indian parent,” Asha remarks.
Ravi’s parents — his father is a successful Toronto businessman
— want him to join the family firm, get married immediately and
have children. Only then can Asha move on to the fourth and
final stage of her life: now a successful parent, she can let go
of family cares and turn her mind to meditation, death and
reincarnation.
“Ravi is torturing me,” she tells the audience, noting that it’s
now 2012 and Ravi still isn’t married.
But back to 2007. Ravi receives an offer to do some theatre
workshops in India and is about to leave when his parents
announce they are coming, too. And what follows is a series of
clever ambushes as Ravi is set up with prospective wives, and
forced to spend time with an assortment of parents,
grandparents, aunts and uncles.
There are very funny moments, furious arguments and — for some
of us — unusual and very intimate insights into Indian culture
and mores. The piece is weaker, ironically, when it tries to
become more theatrical, attempting to recreate a scene rather
than relying on storytelling.
It’s an elaborate, Machiavellian chess game of moves and
countermoves with Ravi being comprehensively outplayed at almost
every turn but refusing (just) to yield.
Ravi has countered with a clever gambit, turning his experiences
into theatre and giving his mother a unique insight into his
world, with all its hardships and joys. But she has responded by
helping him create a hit play . . . and what will she want in
return?
Most of all, however, it’s a piece about family; the deep
affection that the two of them have for each other shines
through everything.
”You don’t know what happiness is,” Asha says sharply at one
point. “I am finding it, working with you,” Ravi replies simply.
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::ENTERTAINMENT NEWS WITH A CANADAN TWIST::
