A Brimful of Asha at the Tarragon Extra Space is a runaway hit. The added performances keep selling out, and for good reason. We all have mothers. Most of us come from immigrant parents. Put the two together and you have the perfect storm of a generational culture clash.
Ravi Jain’s Why Not Theatre never repeats itself. Each show is very different, one from the other. A Brimful of Asha is basically a conversation between Jain and his real life mother, Asha (who has never acted before). What’s so delicious about the show is that the audience has no idea just how much is scripted, and how much is improvised.
The topic of discussion is Ravi getting married. Apparently, as soon as children finish their education, they are supposed to get married, according to Indian tradition. Ravi did not do that, and this reflects badly on his parents in the view of their Indian relatives and friends. They must be bad parents because Ravi isn’t married. Not only that, he’s in theatre – not exactly the proper vocation for an Indian son who should be taking over his father’s business, or better still, graduating as a lawyer or doctor.
The opening of the play has a real buzz. Ravi and Asha greet the audience as they come in, serving samosas and other goodies to the hungry. (I had a samosa, presumably cooked by Asha, and it was delicious.) Thus, right from the get go, everyone is cocooned in friendship. At the end, Ravi and Asha say individual goodbyes, and the audience forms a reception line.
In between, we hear the story of the trip to India that inspired the play. Ravi was invited to give a theatre workshop in Calcutta, and he and his friend Andrew took this opportunity to extend the trip and backpack around India. Ravi’s parents also took the opportunity to come to India and introduce Ravi to some suitable girls.
As each tells part of the story, disputes develop. Asha sees things one way, and Ravi the other. Each one is trying to win the audience over to his/her side. The dialogue is genuinely funny. Asha is particularly adept at an ironic delivery of one-liners that zaps Ravi into silence or anger. She had the crowd howling with laughter. For his part, Ravi is a charismatic actor. There is also clever use of two flat screen TVs that show family photos and other suitable material.
Underneath the laughter, there is a very serious subject at play – the honour of the family and the well-being of a child. Asha’s story of her own arranged marriage is very poignant – engaged by the third day and married within a few weeks, then coming to Canada where she knew no one. We hear about the dream she had to give up – of running a school for orphans. The title of the play, incidentally, comes from a song by the British alt rock band Cornershop.
The theatre is infused with warmth because there is such a strong connection between actors and audience. The laughter is of the shared good-natured kind. Asha and Ravi radiate vitality. You leave the show with a smile on your face. Yet, despite the fact that A Brimful of Asha is a delightful theatre outing, one does do some serious thinking after the show. Does the western falling in love mandate lead to better marriages? Not bloody likely when you look at the divorce rate.
I remember when I was in India, and our local guides talked about their own arranged marriages, and the Saturday papers that had all the bio datas on prospective brides and grooms. (Unbeknownst to Ravi, his father put his data bio in an Indian newspaper, and the family got 150 responses.)
Ravi is now 32. Will he ever get married and make his parents happy? Maybe that happens in the sequel.
A Brimful of Asha, written and performed by Asha and Ravi Jain, directed by Ravi Jain, Tarragon Extra Space, Jan. 26 to Feb. 26.