After eight years abroad studying and working, Ravi Jain is launching his new company Why Not Theatre with a retooled and retitled piece by Mr. S. called The Prince Hamlet (see listing at right for details). Drawing on his experiences at L'ƒcole Internationale de ThŽ‰tre Jacques Lecoq in Paris, the show employs what he calls “cinematic language,” staging flashbacks to communicate long passages of exposition through action rather than potentially tedious monologue. For his first production in Toronto, it's a bit like going up to the biggest bully in the schoolyard and offering him a new tailored jacket Ñ maybe he'll admire the fine stitching, maybe he'll knock you down for your sheer audacity. For the irrepressible Jain and his internationally staffed company Ñ made up of theatre artists from Canada, the US, UK and Denmark Ñ it's a healthy risk.

What originally got you into theatre?
Growing up in an Indian family we have a lot of traditions where we perform. Weddings, family functions, partiesÉ. Often you prepare a song from a Bollywood movie and lip-synch it for everyone. Amitabh Buchan was a huge Bollywood star who I admired and watched Ñ I would always perform his songsÉ. As I got older, my brother was in theatre, and I looked up to him, and just copied what he did. Then, in high school, when I committed to theatre over sports, I was hooked. What I loved about theatre was that sense of a group working together as a team to figure out how to tell a story. It wasn't unlike a sports team, we trained, we practicedÉ our goals were just different. I loved the energy and imaginative worlds we got to play in.

So, why Hamlet?
I wanted to take a risk and said to myself, after two years of working without a text [while at L'ƒcole Internationale de ThŽ‰tre Jacques Lecoq], why not work on the text, which happens to be one I loveÉ. I've always been fascinated with “Why Hamlet?” Ñ why are we supposed to love this play? What is it about it that is so great? These questions we explored in our work, ripping apart the text and rearranging scenes in order to understand how it really works and why. In that process, we realized that this story is about a young man seeking to understand his time and looking for purpose. It was a very similar struggle that we were going through. We are trying to define who we are as a company, what we want to do and how we will do it.

What do you hope audiences will see?
I hope in seeing our show, people will be inspired to take the risk to look at what they do differently. They don't have to do things the same way all the time. I hope it will inspire risk and fun!

To your mind, what advantages does theatre still have over film?
I think the main advantage is that it is live. People are in front of people, and that energy is unlike any otherÉ. I think too that theatre puts us back into that state of a child. That state of wonder and awe and curiosity that we lose as we get older. Sitting on the carpet hearing a story was always a fun thing for me when I was a kid.

Your company's mission statement claims that we are all artists. Aren't some of us just born to be bankers?
Even bankers are artists. An artist is someone who is able to find mastery and precision in what they do, but also someone who allows herself to be free and open to seek new ways to do things. We are constantly adapting and changing beings, yet we are also creatures of habit. This habit leads to routine and routine is boring! We all need to remind ourselves of our ability to think and be free outside the boxes we create. And, yes, even bankers are capable of that.

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