(photo by Cylla von Tiedemann)
A Passion for Story-Telling
by Gaëtan L. Charlebois
Ravi Jain is an actor/creator and award-winning director whose work has been produced extensively around the world. Over the past six years, as artistic director and founder of his international theatre company Why Not Theatre, Mr. Jain has created over 14 productions, performing in 15 different cities on four continents. His devised creations include his own adaptation of Hamlet entitled The Prince, the Dora Award winning Spent (created with Theatre Smith Gilmour and Adam Paolozza), the smash hit A Brimful of Asha - starring his real life mother Asha Jain. His directorial credits include Nicolas Billon’s Governor General’s Award nominated triptych Fault Lines, which include the plays Greenland, Iceland and Faroe Islands. Mr. Jain's varied body of work has established him as a multifaceted artist continually pushing the boundaries. He was the Urjo Kareda Artist in Residence at Tarragon Theatre (2010), is a Resident Artist at Soulpepper Theatre Company and is the inaugural Artistic Director in Residence at the Theatre Centre. He is also on the roster of clowns for Cirque du Soleil, and was awarded the Ken MacDougal and Ontario Arts Council’s Pauline McGibbon Award for Emerging Director.
CHARPO: In the last years, and inasmuch as you have remained active behind the scenes, your name is inextricably linked to Brimful of Asha as a performer with your mother. Has this been an unmitigated joy or does it come with its difficulties both personal and professional and which of those would you be willing to reveal?
JAIN: I often call myself a theatre maker- and that can mean many things. Actor, director, producer- it’s all part of a passion I have for storytelling. The success of Brimful of Asha has been so wonderfully surprising. I love performing in the show, because it’s really the only opportunity I have to spend quality time with my mother. Also, I love that people have a great time at the show, their reactions to my mother make me feel happy and the experience brings joy to me as a theatre maker. The show is people coming together to share in a good time. The challenge it presents professionally is that people sometimes expect all my work to look and feel like that show. With my company Why Not Theatre, no two shows look the same- the form and content of the story changes with the material we are working with and the people involved in the creative process. It’s always a surprise. I like having the freedom as an artist to do many different things and take risks that push me to discover new forms and new stories.
