By Linda Chin
A BRIMFUL OF ASHA – Written and Performed by Ravi Jain and Asha Jain; Directed by Ravi Jain; Set Design by Julie Fox; Lighting and Video Design by Beth Kates (Playground Studios).
A year from the day that many theatres went dark, I managed to persuade my twenty-something daughter and son that we should take a break from binge-watching tv series and watch a play together instead. These days it’s been especially difficult to find theater offerings that appeal to both generations, align with our values (including diverse stories and storytellers) and have high production values (successfully translating from stage to screen) and lift our spirits. ArtsEmerson was hosting a digital production of Why Not Theatre’s A Brimful of Asha, and from the show’s description (cultural and generational clash, real-life mother and son, some Indian matchmaking, a comedy!) and cast bios (real-life mother and son) I was hopeful this play might be their/our cup of tea.With great anticipation, some trepidation, and a leap of faith, we pressed the streaming link.
ArtsEmerson’s virtual online event includes a recording of a touring performance of A Brimful of Asha’s at Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre in 2014 (that had been taped in front of a live audience) bookended with “pre-curtain” remarks by Executive Director David Howse and a post-play live conversation with creators and performers Asha and Ravi Jain. The one-act play transports viewers to the Jain’s Toronto home (with side trips to Delhi and Jaipur) and includes us in painfully honest conversations. Asha and Ravi are bound by love and loyalty, but their perspectives on marriage and career are 180 degrees apart. Asha self-identifies as an ‘abused mother’ (and aspiring grandmother) and according to her cast bio “is excited to be sharing this story with the world, in order to finally prove her son (Ravi, an unmarried actor) wrong.”
The small stage is dominated by a large dining table; a hanging screen with a few photos projected serves as the backdrop. Asha reveals at the outset that she is not a trained actor and asks for the audience’s understanding as she states her case, and patience if she blanks on her lines. Her poignant description of meeting Ravi’s father, getting married, and moving to Canada is less than a month’s time (so similar to my own parents’ arranged marriage and immigration story) brought me to tears, and her comedic timing and deadpan delivery made me laugh again and again. Asha never falters, and impresses with her natural instincts, vulnerability, and ease in connecting with the audience and the other actor (her son) on stage. Ravi’s more confident performance reveals his lifelong passion for being comfortable, Bollywood inspirations and infatuations, and formal theatre training. He is a gifted storyteller – in describing events he paints images with words and gestures and puts us in the picture; in retelling conversations he captures the speech, dialects and mannerisms of over 30 characters with precision, respect and affection andincludes us in the room.
Asha and Ravi also complement each other well on stage. She remains seated throughout the production but maintains a strong physical presence. Ravi hardly sits still – making grand hand movements, standing, pacing, pointing to the screen, going offstage to retrieve the binders brimming with bios of prospective brides. The duo also has the gift of improvisation and openness to revision – a previously unscripted bit with Ravi chatting with his mother while perched on the edge of the table, oblivious to her gently admonishing gestures to move his butt to a chair (there is food on the table and company in the house, after all!) is now part of the stage directions, and one of the play’s priceless moments.
Towards the end, the story does get repetitive and the pacing in the first half could have been tightened, but the play’s honesty (and humor punctuated throughout) made the 82-minute running time fly – and our hearts soar. The actors succeeded in making audience members laugh and cry, educating and entertaining us, and leaving us wanting more. Another marker of this play’s success is its production quality. Thanks to the skilled videography – excellent camera angles, zooms and editing – we got to see the actors’ subtle and fabulous facial expressions more closely in this screen version than if we had been in the audience.
Kudos also to ArtsEmerson for their maintaining their commitment to access and audience engagement during the pandemic. A silver lining to the streaming format is that it truly gives Asha the opportunity to share her story with the world. Tickets are ‘Pick Your Price’ (free-$100). At the post-play program (which was ASL-interpreted – the play unfortunately was not) Howse expressed his hope that the collaboration with Why Not Theatre was a long arc, including a possible live production of this delightful play. That is good news for Boston audiences, including the fact that at past live performances the Jains greeted their “guests” at the door with handshakes and samosas. Reminiscent of the pierogies cast members passed out at ART’s Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet and pieces of mango Micah Rosegrant shared at their production of The First Pineapple and other Folk Tales, these acts of love foreshadow my hope that theatre will continue to be more welcoming and inclusive.
During the post-play conversation/Q&A, we also got our wish of ‘meeting’ the Jains and getting an update on their lives in the past 8 years. Ravi answers the question on most everyone’s mind: Are you married yet? My question is this: Does Asha still believe that acting – unlike engineering, law or medicine – is not a worthy, much less marriage-worthy, profession? In creating and performing in this winning production, Ravi and Asha Jain provide the empathy, healing and hope the doctor ordered for our theatre-starved family.
A Brimful of Asha premiered on March 9. On-demand streaming is available through Monday, March 22 at 10PM ET. Ticket prices range from FREE to $100.
