Toronto playwright, director and actor Ravi Jain penned the critically acclaimed Brimful of Asha with his mother, Asha Jain, who also acts in the play alongside her son.
It’s a classic tale of culture and generational clash between two family members about the marriage imperative and is presented in a very heartwarming and humorous manner.
Jain is the Dora Award–winning founding director of Why Not Theatre and an associate director at Soulpepper Theatre. A Brimful of Asha is being remounted this month at the Young Centre for Performing Arts and runs Nov. 1 to 12.
The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks
I became aware of the book because of a play I saw in France, L'Homme qui, staged by the great Peter Brook. I became fascinated by the details of each story told and the incredible and incomprehensible world of the brain. It's a mystery inside us that we will never fully understand.
Sea Sick, Alanna Mitchell
An incredible story of a journalist who delves into the deep ocean discovering the immense impacts climate change is having down there. It’s so beautifully told and reveals an unlikely hero at the centre. I ended up adapting the book to stage led by Franco Boni and starring Alanna.
The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie
I had never read a story with a narrative that weaved history, religion and fantasy together with an incredible impact. The power of the storytelling was incredible. I felt complicit with the characters, to the point where my own faith and beliefs were questioned! I was a part of the story! Rushdie’s humour, wit and swirling narratives have long since impacted how I tell stories.
River of Colour, Raghubir Singh
I often return to this book on a regular basis. This book of photographs by Raghubir Singh captures a kind of colour and juxtaposition of India and Indian culture in a way that was so recognizable to me even though I’m a foreigner. The compositions are stunning, and he captures the beauty in the banal, the magic in the everyday that exists in the beliefs I grew up with from a distant place.
A Short History of Progress, Ronald Wright
These lectures forever changed my understanding of what progress is. It challenged my understanding of success, capitalism, human nature and most importantly, our survival. Seeing the negative side of progress came at a young age when I was relooking at history through the lens of Howard Zinn, all colliding as I was discovering art as a tool for social justice.