Download a brimful of asha - Spoleto Festival USA

THEATER
59
A BRIMFUL OF ASHA
WHY NOT THEATRE
AMERICAN PREMIERE
Emmett Robinson Theatre at College of Charleston
May 29, 30, and 31 at 8:00pm; May 31 at 2:00pm;
June 1 at 7:30pm
SPONSORED BY RENAISSANCE CHARLESTON HISTORIC DISTRICT HOTEL.
Artistic Director and Creator
Creator and Performer
Set Designer
Lighting and Video Design
Technical Director and Tour Lighting Designer
Tour Stage Managers
Ravi Jain
Asha Jain
Julie Fox
Beth Kates
André du Toit
Owais Lightwala, Gina Scherr
PERFORMED WITHOUT AN INTERMISSION.
These performances are made possible in part through funds from the Spoleto Festival USA Endowment, generously supported by
BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.
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A BRIMFUL OF ASHA
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
The title A Brimful of Asha comes from a song written by British
alternative rock band Cornershop. Asha is my mother’s name.
In Hindi it means Hope. This play is for my family, whom I love
very much, and am only now beginning to understand. Thanks
for coming over and being part of our story.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Founded in 2007, Why Not Theatre is a Toronto-based theater
company with an international scope. Under the artistic
direction of Ravi Jain, Why Not has established a reputation
as a company synonymous with inventive, experimental,
cross-cultural collaborations resulting in shows featuring new
Canadian writing, company-devised, and site specific shows
alongside revitalized interpretations of classics. Over the last
six years the company has developed over 14 productions,
touring to 15 different cities on four continents. They strive to
be indefinable, creating theatrical experiences that engage an
audience beyond the confines of the theater. In recent years,
the company has also become known for its presentation of
international productions and workshops from diverse cultures
and artistic practices, along with support for the development
of emerging artists, and producing consulting services for other
arts and culture organizations. theatrewhynot.org ARTISTIC TE AM
JULIE FOX (set designer) has numerous recent theater credits,
including: The Little Years; The Patient Hour; I, Claudia;
Faust; The Designated Mourner; The Cryptogram (Tarragon
Theatre); Endgame, The Long Valley, The Play’s the Thing, A
Christmas Carol (Soulpepper Theatre); The Best Brothers, The
Little Years, For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again (Stratford
Festival); Someone Else; Seeds; I, Claudia; The Country (Crow’s
Theatre); The Maids; Blasted; Breakfast; Arigato, Tokyo (Buddies
in Bad Times Theatre); Civility, The Eco Show, Insomnia
(Necessary Angel Theatre Company); Cosmonaut (Canadian
Stage); Geometry in Venice (Segal Centre); Possible Worlds
(Theatre Passe Muraille); Frozen (Citadel Theatre); and Little
Red River, On the Side of the Road (Theatre Junction). She has
received three Dora Awards for Outstanding Set Design and
many nominations, and is a graduate of the National Theatre
School of Canada.
BETH
KATES (lighting/video designer) has completed
recent projects that include projection design for Music for
Contortionist (Tarragon Theatre); Synesthesia Project (co-created
with Steven McCarthy); work with KOBA Family (Strawberry
Shortcake); Same Same But Different (Nightswimming
Theatre); Alexandria (Acting Up Stage Company); Ragtime
(Shaw Festival); The Wizard of Oz, Snow White 2012 (Ross Petty
Productions); Malaria Lullaby (Playground Studios/Candles
Are For Burning Company/Company Blonde Dance Projects);
MacHomer, Bigger Than Jesus (a Dora Award-winner),
HARDSELL (WYRD Productions); Spin (Buddies in Bad Times
Theatre); Dark Star Requiem, Shelter, Get Stuffed (Tapestry
New Opera Works); and Such Creatures, Yichud/Seclusion
(Theatre Passe Muraille). Her lighting design has been seen
in Whispering Pines (Great Canadian Theatre Company) and
Madonna Painter (Factory Theatre). Kates teaches workshops in
projection design and is co-creative director, with husband Ben
Chaisson, of Playground Studios. Their interactive installation,
The ToyBox, was the recipient of the 2011 Canadian Institute
for Theatre Technology Award for Technical Merit, and was
showcased in the lobby of City Hall.
ANDRÉ DU TOIT (technical director/stage manager) is an awardwinning lighting designer. He is the artistic producer of the Lab Cab
Festival and the producer of Canadian Rep Theatre. His selected
lighting designs include SPENT (Theatre Smith-Gilmour/Why
Not Theatre/TheatreRUN); The Double (TheatreRUN), for which
he won a Dora Award for Outstanding Lighting Design; As I Lay
Dying (Theatre Smith-Gilmour); Dear Liar (Why Not Theatre);
and Dirty Butterfly (Bound to Create Theatre).
PERFORMERS
RAVI JAIN
(creator/performer/artistic
director) is a multi-award-winning actor,
director, producer, educator, curator, and
artistic director of Why Not Theatre. His
acting credits include the Dora Awardwinning SPENT (Theatre Smith-Gilmour/
Why Not Theatre/TheatreRUN) and A
Brimful of Asha (Why Not Theatre/
Tarragon Theatre). Jain was the 2010
Urjo Kareda Resident Artist at Tarragon
when he began to develop A Brimful of Asha. His company
was in residence at the Theatre Centre when he developed
I’m So Close (winner of the Spotlight Award at SummerWorks
2009, and toured to Dublin and Vancouver). He has assisted
notable directors Daniel Brooks (Necessary Angel Theatre
Company’s Hardsell), Richard Rose (Tarragon’s Courageous)
and Jennifer Tarver (Stratford Festival’s King of Thieves), the
latter as part of the inaugural Michael Langham Workshop for
Classical Direction at the Stratford Festival. Select directing
credits for Why Not include The Prince Hamlet, I’m So Close,
A Brimful of Asha, Greenland (winner of NOW Audience
Choice Award and Best Production SummerWorks ‘09),
and Iceland (winner of NOW Audience Choice Award and Best
New Play SummerWorks ‘12). Jain directed Nicolas Billon’s
triptych of plays entitled Fault Lines which recently was awarded
The Governor General‘s Literary Award for Drama. In 2011, Jain
was a member of the DiverseCity Fellows program, which aims
to diversify leadership across sectors in Toronto. Jain is engaged
in many different arts organizations and creations across the
city and the globe, including the programming committee for
the Daniels Spectrum as well as the Artist Advisory Committee
for ArtReach Toronto.
ASHA JAIN (creator/performer) grew up
in New Delhi, India. Upon completion
of her Master’s Degree, she married in
1974, which led to her immigration to
Canada. While supporting her husband
Ramesh in the founding of his own
business, she raised two boys, Anurag
and Ravi. She is a wonderful mother,
wife, and now a very funny actor. She is
excited to be sharing this story with the
world, in order to finally prove her son wrong.